Pakistan opposition to approach Supreme Court over Imran Khan hospital transfer

Pakistan's opposition parties said Friday they would approach the Supreme Court, accusing the government of failing to implement its order on Imran Khan's medical treatment after the former prime minister was taken to a government hospital instead of the private facility the court had named.

Where is Imran Khan now?

Imran Khan was returned to Adiala jail at around 5am Friday after doctors at PIMS declared him medically fit, ending a night in which he was examined outside Shifa International Hospital, the facility the Supreme Court had ordered for his treatment.

The opposition also reaffirmed plans for a "full-fledged" protest and long march on September 27, inviting other opposition parties to join. Leaders made the decisions at a meeting chaired by National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad, attended by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Senator Raja Nasir Abbas, Asad Qaiser and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.

The opposition expressed "deep concern" over Khan's health and said there would be no compromise over his medical treatment. It accused the government of staging a "drama" and said failing to implement Supreme Court decisions amounted to contempt of court.

Why is Pakistan's opposition returning to the Supreme Court?

Achakzai said the government had wasted a chance to ease Pakistan's political crisis by not keeping Khan at Shifa, where the Supreme Court had ordered his treatment. He called the missed opportunity "tantamount to treason against this country" and said Khan remained "a prisoner of conscience" who had "not broken."

Achakzai said the court had taken notice of reports on Khan's blood pressure and eye problems and ordered his transfer to Shifa. He said PTI had cooperated fully by pledging no crowds, slogans or political activity outside the hospital, and asked what would have happened had Khan spent a week in a hospital bed with proper examination.

Achakzai said Khan had told his sister he was being treated like former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and held in isolation and subjected to torture. He stressed the opposition's dispute was not personal, aimed neither at any soldier nor at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif or Nawaz Sharif, but at forces that reject constitutional supremacy and judicial independence.

What is PTI's next legal and political move?

Salman Akram Raja said PTI would file a contempt of court petition Saturday over the government's handling of the Supreme Court order, arguing the court's decision "was not accepted" and that the medical board it ordered "was never formed." He disputed government claims that security concerns had kept Khan from Shifa, saying his physician had reached the hospital in a vehicle escorted by police.

PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said the episode had undermined dialogue efforts and that the Supreme Court's order left no ambiguity requiring Khan's transfer and testing at a hospital. Responding to Shehbaz Sharif's offer of talks, he said negotiations "do not happen like this" and questioned why such a major leader had been denied space to be treated.

Gohar warned PTI could reconsider its role in Parliament, saying the party would decide within days whether to continue taking part in the assembly. Achakzai added that a broader "united opposition" alliance was taking shape, standing "100 percent in solidarity" with PTI.

Why was Imran Khan taken to PIMS instead of Shifa?

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Khan was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, or PIMS, rather than Shifa for examination, with Shifa doctors also present. He said Khan was moved from Adiala jail overnight on August 20 to 21 under "appropriate security arrangements" in line with the Supreme Court's order.

Tarar said the decision to use PIMS followed security concerns created by PTI workers along the route to Shifa. Khan was taken via Chakri while police deployed heavily around Shifa and closed several roads with barbed wire, with the Islamabad police chief present outside the hospital.

A team including an ophthalmologist, cardiologist and physician examined Khan at PIMS and declared him medically fit, Tarar said. Khan's sister, Uzma Khan, remained present throughout the examination and treatment.

What did the Supreme Court order for Imran Khan's treatment?

The Supreme Court ordered Tuesday that Khan be moved to Shifa International Hospital for several days of treatment and directed the government to arrange weekly family meetings. The order followed a medical board report and a jail superintendent's report recommending more frequent visits from Khan's immediate family to help manage his blood pressure and anxiety.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed heard the case, ordering that Khan's physician Dr. Faisal Sultan be given access to him and directing formation of a medical board including an eye specialist, general physician, cardiologist and Sultan's sister, Dr. Uzma. The court required Khan's family to bear treatment costs and barred political activity or press conferences outside the hospital.

"Do not engage in politics outside the hospital," Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan said, noting other patients were present. The court also allowed Khan phone calls with his children and warned its orders could be withdrawn if violated, leaving the opposition's renewed Supreme Court challenge and September 27 protest plans as fresh flashpoints in the standoff.