Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has urged Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi to ensure that court orders on the medical treatment of its jailed founder, former prime minister Imran Khan, are carried out, after reports that his blood pressure had surged to 192.
The party's core committee met late on Thursday and continued into the night, following the reports of the sharp rise in the former premier's blood pressure. In a statement issued after the meeting, the committee described the reports as extremely alarming and said protecting Imran Khan's health and life was an urgent humanitarian issue.
The committee was briefed about the former prime minister's recent meeting with his lawyer, Barrister Salman Safdar, before it finalised its demands. It cited what it called a lack of medical facilities in prison and obstacles to his access to his family members and personal physicians.
The statement said the committee had unanimously resolved that any negligence, delay or irresponsibility in the matter was unacceptable, and that his health should be treated as a serious humanitarian and medical emergency rather than merely a political or legal dispute.
The party demanded that the government give Imran Khan's personal physicians immediate, unhindered and effective access to him, arrange all necessary medical examinations and diagnostic tests without delay, and transfer him to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for a complete medical evaluation and treatment.
It appealed to the chief justice to give the matter immediate attention in view of its exceptional humanitarian importance, and to ensure the effective implementation of court orders regarding his treatment. The committee said implementing court orders was a constitutional and legal responsibility of the relevant government and administrative bodies that could not be evaded under any circumstances.
The committee also appealed to the Pakistani nation, including overseas Pakistanis, to raise their voices immediately and forcefully to protect Imran Khan's life and health, and said the gravity and urgency of the issue should be highlighted at the national and international levels. It directed all PTI lawmakers, party organisations and office-bearers to raise the issue of the former premier's health, treatment and rights with full force.
The meeting also expressed concern over an incident involving jailed PTI vice-chairperson Shah Mahmood Qureshi in prison, citing his fall and the resulting impact on his health. It called on the relevant courts, the government and the prison administration to immediately transfer Mr Qureshi to a hospital and ensure his complete medical examination and necessary treatment.
Imran Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023, and his health has deteriorated over the course of his prison sentence, according to the party. His eye ailment, a right central retinal vein occlusion, came to light in late January, after which he has been taken to hospital multiple times.
On August 1, Dr Akhtar Ali Bandeshah of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences examined him and noted complaints of uncontrolled and fluctuating blood pressure, palpitations, headache and restlessness. A medical board comprising Pims specialists examined him again on August 10, after he complained of heaviness in the head and palpitations.
On August 18, the Supreme Court directed the government to shift the jailed former premier to Shifa International Hospital, a day after the superintendent of Adiala jail submitted a report to the court on his health condition. The government instead took him to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, a government hospital, and subsequently transported him back to prison.
What happens next will depend on whether the government and the prison authorities act on the party's demands and the court's earlier direction. The Islamabad High Court has already fixed appeals by Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the 190 million pound case for November 10, and the party has signalled that its lawmakers will keep raising the health issue in parliament and in the courts in the days ahead.
