ISLAMABAD: Adiala jail authorities submitted a report to the Supreme Court on Monday, stating that former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan’s eye condition had improved significantly and his vision was “almost normal” now.
The report was submitted a day before the court was set to commence the hearing of Imran Khan’s plea for his treatment at Islamabad’s Shifa International. The jailed ex-premier, who has been in jail since August 2023, has been taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad for eye treatment multiple times after his eye ailment — right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) — came to light in late January.
Meanwhile, the PTI and the government have been engaged in a blame game, with the latter accusing the former of a lack of transparency in not ensuring appropriate treatment for Imran. The opposition has also demanded that the former premier be shifted to Shifa International Hospital, be treated in the presence of his personal physicians and allowed to meet his family.
In the fresh report submitted before the SC by the jail superintendent, the prison authorities explained that both Imran and Bushra were being provided with adequate healthcare facilities. “Their health and well-being are and have been of paramount importance to the jail administration,” the report said.
It said that medical officers visited Imran thrice a day to check his meals and take his vitals, including blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation.
It added that Imran’s medical records had been maintained since his admission to the jail and several consultants from different specialities had visited the couple for medical examination. A record of all visiting consultants’ examinations and prescriptions is available with the jail administration and attached to the report.
The report said that when Imran was diagnosed with an eye disease, the jail authorities sought immediate medical intervention. As per the report, he was treated at Pims Islamabad by the hospital’s head of ophthalmology, Dr Muhammad Arif Khan, and Dr Nadeem Qureshi, a vitreo-retinal surgeon at Alshifa Trust Eye Hospital in Rawalpindi.
“Consequently, significant improvement of his eye has been noticed, and his vision returned to almost normal,” the report claimed, adding that the “medical interventions and improvement of his vision suggested that the jail administration left no stone unturned in providing the convicted prisoner with the best healthcare facilities from the top public sector teaching hospital of the ICT”.
The report also stated that meetings between Imran and Bushra were held regularly every Tuesday and 84 such meetings had been held.
However, in the annexures attached to the jail report, it was mentioned that in a medical examination on August 1, Imran had complained of uncontrolled and fluctuating blood pressure along with palpitations, headache and restlessness. The doctors stated that according to Imran, the “obvious” cause of his symptoms was “infrequent meetings with his wife, family and social colleagues as the cause of stress”. It was further stated that he had complained of stress due to “non-availability of newspapers and the non-provision of TV”.
In his recommendation, the doctor had suggested frequent meetings with his wife and provision of more reading material, indicating that the “74-year-old gentleman with stressful attitude was at a risk of complications” and recommended CT Coronary Angiography.
In another visit on August 10, Imran was examined by a medical board following complaints of “heaviness in head/palpitations”. The medical board suggested a one-hour walk with “some relaxation in his current prison situation”. The board recommended that Imran be provided with magazines, newspapers, books and TV.
The board also suggested frequent interaction with an immediate family member or spouse. This will help control his anxiety and blood pressure, the report had stated.
The report also said that Imran’s counsel Salman Akram Raja, through “media talks, interviews and tweets”, had maligned the constitutional office holders/representative of the state.
It recalled that a larger bench of the IHC, headed by Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar had disposed of a contempt proceeding on March 24, 2025 in the Mishal Azam case and cited the court order in which it was stated that Raja had “given [an] undertaking that no media talk would be given by the persons with respect to the matters discussed in interview outside the jail premises”.
Despite clear directions by IHC, Raja allegedly violated the “privilege of the interview by advancing political agenda on media” following meetings with the prisoners, the report said.
“This was also in flagrant violation of Rule-265 of Pakistan Prison Rules 1978,” it added.
The jail report requested the SC to dispose of the criminal appeal for being devoid of merits.
The jail authorities also attached IHC orders to the report, several news clippings based on statements issued by PTI leaders, social media posts claiming the couple was facing serious health risks in custody, a summary of their check-ups by consultants on different dates and relevant medical reports.
Headed by Justice Shahid Wahid, a three-judge SC bench, also consisting of Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, will take up Imran’s petition on Aug 18.
SC had ordered an early hearing of the former premier’s petition. Through a criminal appeal, the petitioner had requested to be shifted to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital and access to his family and personal physicians.
PTI says report raises concerns
Following the submission of the report on Imran’s health condition to the Supreme Court, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan the document had raised “concerns”.
“We have been emphasising that Khan sahib should have access to health facilities as per the rules and jail’s standard operating procedures (SOPs),” he said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
He said that three judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ruled in favour of Imran’s meetings with his family, doctors, and lawyers.
However, “300 days have passed since a meeting with him,” Gohar said, stating that the party had no “independent reports” about Imran’s health in jail.
“We had always demanded Imran’s medical treatment under the supervision of his personal physicians, in the presence of his family, and in the hospital chosen by his family,” the PTI chairman added.
“This is the fundamental right of Khan sahib and in accordance with the rules and regulations.”
Referring to the report submitted in the Supreme Court, he said it had now been confirmed that Imran’s blood pressure was high.
Speaking alongside him, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi termed the report “highly concerning”.
“Neither his family nor his physicians or lawyers have met Imran Khan sahib since December 2. This report has raised serious concerns for the whole nation,” CM Afridi said.
He claimed that before being incarcerated, the PTI founder was “super fit” and his health deteriorated while being imprisoned.
The chief minister stated that Imran’s health issue had been raised multiple times before; however, the judiciary did not take notice of it, emphasising that the judiciary was the party’s last hope.
CM Afridi said that the PTI was not demanding “relief but justice”.
He pleaded with the judges to allow the PTI founder’s family access to him and to carry out his treatment in the presence of his family.
Separately, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said in a statement that the report had vindicated his party’s concerns and raised serious questions about the conditions in which Imran had been kept.
He said the report’s contents presented an “alarming picture of Imran’s health”, including complaints of rapid heartbeat, severe headache, restlessness and heightened anxiety, which could not be treated as routine medical concerns, particularly in the context of his “prolonged incarceration and isolation”.
Akram said it was now imperative for the government to “immediately explain why recommended medical investigations and appropriate treatment had not been ensured, despite the seriousness of the concerns raised by the medical authorities”.
He said while the jail authorities claimed Imran Khan was being provided necessary facilities, the medical board, in its report submitted on August 10, had specifically recommended that these facilities be made available to him and that regular meetings with his wife and family be facilitated.
“If these facilities are already being provided, as claimed by the jail authorities, there is no explanation as to why the medical board found it necessary to recommend them,” Akram said, adding that the apparent failure to implement the recommendations raised serious questions about the administration’s compliance with medical advice.
He said the government could not evade responsibility, deflecting it to jail authorities, while Imran Khan’s health continued to deteriorate.
“The government cannot keep Imran Khan in isolation, deny him basic facilities and then escape responsibility when his health deteriorates,” he added.
“In light of the report submitted to the Supreme Court, PTI’s demand is clear, unequivocal and categorical: Imran Khan must be immediately shifted to Shifa International Hospital, where he should undergo a complete medical examination and check-up under the supervision of his personal physicians, Dr Asim Yousaf and Dr Faisal Sultan,” he said.
‘Parliamentary delegation be allowed to visit Imran’
The matter of Imran’s health also came under discussion in the Senate in a noisy session as opposition and treasury benches engaged in a heated argument.
The debate began after Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas raised the issue on a point of order. But, when the chair sought the government’s position, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Minister of State for Law cautioned that the matter should not be discussed as it was sub judice.
However, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said he was willing to respond to the opposition’s concerns.
The Senate chairperson subsequently allowed a discussion on Imran’s health.
Opening the debate, Senator Abbas said Imran’s health was a “serious matter” and questioned the need for what he described as excessive hardship being inflicted on the former premier.
“Even a Pharaoh should not be punished without a crime,” he said, referring to a report submitted by the jail superintendent to the Supreme Court. He said it highlighted serious concerns about Imran’s health.
He demanded medical treatment for both Imran and his wife, Bushra Bibi, and proposed that a parliamentary delegation be allowed to visit the jail to assess Imran’s condition.
Speaking after him, PTI Senator Azam Swati said, “No negligence in Imran Khan’s treatment will be tolerated.”
Responding to the opposition, Rana Sanaullah rejected its concerns as unfounded. He said Imran’s custody was a matter for which jail authorities and the judiciary were respondible, adding that the PTI founder had been provided timely medical care, including tests conducted both at the jail and at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
Sanaullah claimed Imran himself had expressed satisfaction with the treatment in a report submitted to the Supreme Court. He added that several petitions concerning meetings with Khan and his medical treatment were currently pending before the courts.
For his part, Law Minister Tarar said all cases against Imran were pending before the courts and that appeals were taking time to be fixed for hearing. He also referred to a comprehensive report submitted by Imran’s counsel, Barrister Salman Safdar, and said the Supreme Court had already issued orders concerning his treatment.
Minister of State for Interior Senator Talal Chaudhry said the PTI repeatedly claimed that Imran’s life was in danger. He said 84 meetings had taken place with Khan and Bushra Bibi, adding: “Now the sympathy card is left.”
