The Supreme Court on Wednesday put Imran Khan’s hospital transfer case on hold for three more weeks, the second time the Attorney General has been given three weeks on the same question, 85 days after the court ordered him moved to Shifa International Hospital.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed heard petitions about Khan’s treatment and family meetings. Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan asked for three weeks to assist on whether the Federal Constitutional Court can summon the record and fix the case for hearing. The court accepted and adjourned, with the next hearing expected in early December.
The word that stopped the case
The hearing turned on an order passed by the Federal Constitutional Court, known as the FCC. It had summoned the record about Khan’s transfer to Shifa while hearing appeals by three Adiala Jail inmates seeking private-hospital treatment like Khan’s.
Awan said the Constitution empowers the FCC to summon records in constitutional cases. Justice Waheed pointed to the wording of the FCC order, which said the records would be summoned and the cases fixed for hearing. “The word ‘fix cases’ in the Federal Constitutional Court’s order is bothering us,” he observed. Salman Akram Raja, for Khan, said no constitutional interpretation was required and Khan still had not been moved to Shifa.
An order in force, and officials who did not appear
Justice Waheed also questioned compliance with the 18 August order, asking why no official directed to appear had attended, and said there appeared to be “some misunderstanding”. Awan asked for another opportunity for them. The bench asked about Khan’s family meetings, and Justice Waheed raised issuing warrants for the Adiala Jail superintendent. The court noted its 18 August order remained in force, while the government’s review petition said no private-hospital treatment could be given. Khan’s lawyer Uzair Bhandari said only one sister had been able to meet him.
The 85-day ledger
On 18 August, the Supreme Court ordered Adiala Jail to transfer Khan to Shifa for assessment and treatment, with a medical board and his sister Dr Uzma Khan involved. The government instead took him to PIMS on the night of 20 and 21 August, citing security concerns, and returned him to prison at about 5am after declaring him fit. Dr Uzma Khan then filed a contempt petition.
On 14 September the FCC summoned the record. Two days later the same bench raised questions, and the Attorney General sought three weeks. The court did not fix the matter again until now.
On Tuesday, Dr Uzma Khan, detained under the Maintenance of Public Order at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, moved the Supreme Court for an early hearing. Her application asked for a local commission to oversee the transfer to Shifa, and for the main case to be fixed next week. Separate applications asked for a hearing in the week starting 16 November, citing media reports of a blood pressure reading of 192, and for the contempt petition to be scheduled.
A night trip, an injection, and a warning
Hours before Wednesday’s hearing, Khan was taken to PIMS late on Tuesday night for an eye check-up, the hospital said. During the night of 10 and 11 November, an eye specialist recommended an anti-VEGF injection, which he received. The hospital said his vitals were normal and his condition satisfactory and stable. He travelled under tight security.
A PIMS team had examined Khan and Bushra Bibi at Adiala Jail two days earlier, and he had an anti-VEGF injection at PIMS in February too. PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan repeated the demand for the move to Shifa, citing the 18 August directives. “Regrettably, this order has remained unimplemented for nearly three months,” he wrote.
The visit came a day after the Islamabad High Court heard the couple’s appeals in the 190 million pound case and allowed lawyers Latif Khosa and Salman Safdar to meet them in Adiala Jail. Safdar later said Khan told him his eyesight had improved but his blood pressure remained uncontrolled, warning of a risk of brain haemorrhage. The figure of 192 rests on media reports, not a medical statement.
What happens next
Three questions wait until the next hearing in about three weeks: will the Attorney General settle which court can hear the case, will the court fix the contempt petition and the commission request, and what will the FCC do with the three inmates’ appeals? Bushra Bibi’s affidavit says doctors advised a cataract operation around 15 November, while her application for full records and private treatment is undecided. Until the court sits again, the 18 August order stands in force, the review petition stands against it, and Khan’s treatment continues at PIMS at night rather than at Shifa in the daytime.
