Pakistan to challenge court order moving Imran Khan to hospital
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- Pakistan's government announced it will challenge a Supreme Court order directing the transfer of 73-year-old ex-PM Imran Khan from Adiala prison in Rawalpindi to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within 48 hours
- Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the ruling "does not fall within the four corners of the law" and argued a convicted prisoner must be treated inside jail or at a public hospital, not a private facility
- Imran Khan has been imprisoned since 2023 on charges he claims are politically motivated; his lawyers say he has lost most of the vision in his right eye
- The Supreme Court order also directed authorities to grant Khan access to his personal physician, weekly family meetings, and twice-weekly phone calls with his sons in London
- Khan served as PM from 2018 to 2022 and was sentenced to 17 years for graft late last year; his party PTI retains significant support and his 2023 arrest triggered nationwide protests
Why it matters: The legal challenge sets up a direct confrontation between Pakistan's elected government and its top court over a jailed political leader's medical care, with the government contesting the venue (private vs. public hospital) rather than the medical treatment itself. Khan remains a popular figure whose 2023 arrest already triggered mass protests, making the outcome politically volatile regardless of which side prevails.
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