Islamabad, August 18, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has directed authorities to transfer jailed former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital for a comprehensive medical examination within the next few days, amid concerns over his health.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed issued the direction on Tuesday while hearing petitions seeking Khan’s hospitalisation and greater access to his family.
The court said the order was being passed in view of Khan’s health and the constitutional guarantee of the right to life and access to medical facilities. It also directed authorities to facilitate weekly meetings between Khan and his family members.
The Supreme Court further ordered the constitution of a medical board, with Khan’s personal physician and his sister, Uzma Khan, to be associated with it.
The order followed a health report submitted by the Superintendent of Adiala Jail, where Khan has been incarcerated since August 2023.
According to the report’s findings, Akhtar Ali Bandeshah, a doctor at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), examined Khan on August 1. The doctor recorded complaints of uncontrolled and fluctuating blood pressure, palpitations, headache and restlessness.
Khan reportedly attributed some of his symptoms and stress to limited meetings with his wife, family members and social contacts, as well as restricted access to newspapers and television. The doctor recommended measures to reduce his mental stress, including more frequent meetings with his wife and access to reading material.
The doctor also advised a CT coronary angiography and an increase in Khan’s blood-pressure medication, warning of the risk of complications.
Khan, 74, had approached the Supreme Court in May seeking transfer to Shifa International Hospital, access to his personal physicians, family members and legal counsel, and the sharing of his medical records with his family.
The development comes amid wider concerns over Khan’s detention conditions. Last month, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Alice Jill Edwards expressed concern over reports regarding his detention and access to medical care.
Edwards urged Pakistan to restore humane detention conditions and allow Khan access to medical examination and treatment of his choice. She also cited reports that he had been held in near-total solitary confinement for 33 months in a small, windowless cell under round-the-clock CCTV surveillance, with periods exceeding two weeks without exercise or meaningful human contact.
She further raised concerns over reported untreated medical problems, including a spinal injury from a 2013 accident and bullet wounds sustained during an assassination attempt in November 2022.
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