Health · Imran KhanPakistan Supreme Court Orders Imran Khan Hospital TransferAired August 19, 2026 at 1:25 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered0:01[music] former Prime Minister Imran Khan0:04moved from high security Adiala prison0:06in Rawalpindi to private Shifa0:07International Hospital in Islamabad for0:10medical evaluation and treatment amid0:11health concerns. [music] The order0:13directs weekly family visits and twice0:15weekly telephone calls with his two sons0:17who live in the United Kingdom and have0:18been campaigning for his release and it0:20bars political gatherings at the0:22hospital. The former international0:24cricket captain served as Prime Minister0:26from 2018 until his removal in an April0:282022 parliamentary no confidence vote.0:31He has been jailed since 2023 after a0:33corruption conviction and has spent more0:35than three years in detention0:36maintaining the cases are politically0:38motivated. The court set a 48-hour0:40window for the transfer and a next0:42hearing for September 16th ordering a0:44five-member medical board of a0:45physician, general surgeon, internal0:48medicine specialist, eye specialist and0:50cardiologist with his personal physician0:52and his sister associated with care. It0:54requires submission of his complete0:56medical record, tight security for0:58transfer and stay, treatment costs to be1:00borne by the family and warns facilities1:02can be withdrawn if directions are1:03violated. The directive cites health1:05concerns requiring specialist care1:07outside the prison, a rationale that1:09directly contradicts the government's1:11recent position that his health was1:12fine. His party, Pakistan1:14Tehreek-e-Insaf, [music] welcomed the1:16ruling as relief after prolonged limits1:18on access and said it would comply with1:20the no gathering rule. The law and1:21justice minister said the government1:23will seek review or modification arguing1:25[music] under prison rules the1:26examination should be at a government1:28tertiary care hospital unless specialist1:30find it inadequate and calling a private1:32hospital order discriminatory and1:34precedent-setting. [music] Atlantic1:35Council senior fellow Michael Kugelman1:37described the order as significant1:39[music] and surprising noting that1:41earlier government claims of stable1:42health make the intervention striking1:44with speculation [music] about1:45calibrated behind-the-scenes1:47de-escalation with the military1:48establishment. As of the review petition1:51filing on August 19th, [music] prison1:53authorities said they awaited the1:54written order and the transfer had not1:56yet occurred. Whether the court ordered1:58placement at Shifa will be carried out1:59[music] on its terms, shifted to a2:01public hospital, or delayed remains2:03unresolved and non-implementation2:04[music]2:05raises the risk of a deeper political2:06crisis around compliance with the2:08judiciary ahead of a planned nationwide2:10PTI protest.2:12Like and follow for more stories that2:13matter.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗