The Pakistani government has challenged a Supreme Court order directing authorities to move jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to a private hospital, according to a petition filed with the court on Wednesday. The move could delay access to medical care and visitation arrangements sought by Khan’s family and political party. The Supreme Court had ordered the government to transfer Khan to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within two days and allow access to his personal physician.

Khan, 73, has been imprisoned in Rawalpindi since August 2023 after being convicted in several cases. He has maintained that the cases against him are politically motivated, particularly following his falling-out with Pakistan’s powerful military establishment and his removal as prime minister in 2022. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party and family have repeatedly raised concerns about his health and called for improved medical access and visitation rights.

The government has argued that the Supreme Court’s order goes beyond the existing legal framework. In its petition, authorities said the decision to move a convicted prisoner to a private hospital was based on a medical report that did not disclose a condition requiring immediate treatment. The government warned that allowing the order to stand could encourage other prisoners to seek similar relief and, in its view, disrupt the criminal justice system.

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Pakistan’s Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar also criticised the court’s directive in a video-recorded statement issued on Tuesday night. He said the order was not within the boundaries of the law. The government’s challenge comes after the Supreme Court directed that Khan be transferred to the private hospital and receive access to his personal doctor, potentially setting up a legal dispute between the government and the country’s top court over his medical treatment.

The court had also directed authorities to facilitate two telephone calls each week between Khan and his two sons, Kasim and Sulaiman, who live in London. Kasim has expressed concern about his father’s health and said that his condition was the family’s main priority. The brothers, who were raised in Britain following Khan’s divorce from Jemima Goldsmith, have not met their father since 2022 because they have not been able to obtain visas to Pakistan.

Khan’s imprisonment follows a series of legal cases filed against him since his removal from office, including cases involving state gifts, attacks on military and government installations and an alleged unlawful marriage. Most of his convictions have been suspended or overturned, with appeals still pending, while Khan denies wrongdoing. His PTI party continues to retain significant support, despite being stripped of its election symbol before the 2024 elections, in which candidates backed by the party won the largest number of seats but failed to secure a majority

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