August 20, 2026

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Pakistan’s Top Court Orders Former Prime Minister Imran Khan Moved to Hospital

2 days ago Saad wali

Pakistan’s highest court ordered on Tuesday that Imran Khan, the former prime minister who has been imprisoned since 2023, be transferred from prison to a private hospital in Islamabad for medical evaluation and treatment.

A three-judge panel led by Justice Shahid Waheed gave authorities two days to move Khan, 73, from Adiala Prison in Rawalpindi, adjacent to the capital, to Shifa International Hospital, and directed that he remain there until the court next considers the case on Sept. 16. Justices Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Ishtiaq Ibrahim also sat on the panel.

The order was issued on petitions brought by Khan’s sister, Uzma Khan, a physician; his lawyer, Uzair Bhandari; and an official of his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The petitions sought his hospitalization and the restoration of family visits.

The panel addressed questions of medical care and access, not the convictions under which Khan is held. According to an account of the hearing published by Dawn, a Pakistani daily newspaper, Justice Waheed said the court was acting to protect the health and safety of a prisoner, citing constitutional guarantees of the right to life and to medical treatment.

The court further ordered that a medical board be established at the hospital, comprising a cardiologist, a specialist in internal medicine and an ophthalmologist. It said Khan’s personal physician and his sister, who is a doctor, may be associated with the board. His family has sought for more than a year to have doctors of its own choosing involved in his care.

Conditions imposed on both sides

The order set obligations for the authorities and for Khan’s supporters alike.

Prison officials were directed to arrange weekly meetings between Khan and members of his family, and to permit telephone contact with his two sons, who live abroad and have spoken publicly about his health.

At the same time, the court instructed his party, family and lawyers to ensure that no demonstrations take place outside the hospital while he is there, and said his medical records should not be put to political use. The panel indicated that a breach of those terms could lead it to rescind the arrangements. Khan is to pay for his own treatment.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf welcomed the decision. A party spokesman, Zulfikar Bukhari, said it should be carried out immediately and in full, and said the party wished the ruling had come earlier. The party separately urged supporters not to gather outside the hospital.

The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made no immediate public statement, according to Reuters. Government lawyers told the court they had not received advance notice of the direction; the panel recorded that objection.

Medical records before the court

The ruling followed the submission on Monday of a report by the superintendent of Adiala Prison. The document described 39 examinations by various specialists between November 2023 and Aug. 10 of this year, said medical staff see Khan three times daily and stated that adequate care was being provided. The government has consistently maintained that his medical needs are being met in custody, and state doctors have been treating an eye condition disclosed earlier this year.

The panel asked for the complete file, questioning why only a summary had been submitted. Justice Waheed said the material before the court indicated a decline in Khan’s condition, including an irregular heartbeat and blood pressure readings, according to accounts of the hearing in the Pakistani press.

Material appended to the prison report, cited by Dawn, said a doctor from a state hospital examined Khan on Aug. 1 and recorded fluctuating blood pressure, palpitations, headaches and restlessness. Khan attributed some symptoms to restricted contact with his family, according to that account.

Khan has separately been treated for a retinal vein occlusion in his right eye, a circulatory condition of the retina. His lawyers say it has cost him substantial vision on that side. Earlier in 2026, a group of international cricketers wrote to the Pakistani government urging that he be given proper medical care. Khan led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup before entering politics.

Background to the case

Khan became prime minister in 2018 and was removed in April 2022 by a no-confidence vote in parliament. He has been in custody since August 2023.

He is serving a 14-year sentence imposed in January 2025 in a case concerning the Al-Qadir Trust, a charitable body he and his wife, Bushra Bibi, founded while he was in office. Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency alleged the trust was used to obtain land from a property developer in return for official favors, in a case linked to funds repatriated to Pakistan by British authorities. Bibi received a seven-year sentence. Both pleaded not guilty, deny the allegations and have appeals pending. Khan has faced numerous other proceedings since leaving office and says the cases against him are politically driven. The government says the courts have decided on the evidence presented to them.

Access to Khan has been disputed throughout his imprisonment. A high court in Islamabad previously ordered that he be permitted visits twice weekly. His relatives and party say they have frequently been refused entry despite that ruling; officials have cited security considerations. Restrictions on public assembly were imposed in Rawalpindi in April before a planned demonstration outside the prison.

Khan petitioned the country’s highest court in May to order his transfer to Shifa International, grant him access to doctors of his choosing and release his medical records to his family. Court administrators initially returned the filing on procedural grounds. The chief justice set those objections aside on July 31 and directed that the case be heard promptly.

What follows

Tuesday’s order leaves Khan’s convictions untouched; those are being contested separately. The court is expected to review the medical board’s conclusions and return to the question of family access on Sept. 16.

The transfer had not been independently confirmed as of Tuesday evening.

Sources

Reporting in this article is drawn from the following, all published Aug. 18, 2026 unless otherwise noted. Details of the court proceedings — including the judges’ remarks, the composition of the medical board and the contents of the prison report — are attributed to Pakistani outlets that covered the hearing directly.

Wire services and international press

Pakistani press (court proceedings and documents)

Background and prior proceedings

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