Last Updated on August 23, 2026 by YeJahan
PTI to file contempt of court, govt to file review petition in SC
Zac Goldsmith writes letter to UK Foreign Secretary
YEJAHAN REPORT
ISLAMABAD (Aug 21): Despite an order from the Supreme Court (SC) to shift PTI founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan to the Shifa International Hospital, authorities took him from Adiala to the government-run PIMS Hospital early on the morning of August 21. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to file a contempt of court plea in the Supreme Court (SC).
On Tuesday, in a seven-page order, the apex court had directed the relevant authorities and the government to move Imran Khan from jail to Shifa International Hospital.
The order said: “The prisoner shall, within the next two days, be shifted to Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad.”
The PTI founder was shifted from Adiala Jail to PIMS Hospital under strict security measures. He was taken to a specialized ward where a team of doctors, including an ophthalmologist, a cardiologist, and a physician, conducted a detailed medical examination. During the check-up and medical tests, Khan’s sister, Dr. Uzma, and his personal physician, Dr. Faisal, were also present with him.
The much-hyped drama ended at around 5:00 am, when the PTI founder was shifted back to Adiala Jail.
On Friday, Uzma Khan, whom the court ordered to remain with him during his medical examination, held a press conference in Islamabad alongside Dr Faisal Sultan, and Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi.
Uzma Khan stated that despite assurances that the PTI founder would be shifted to Shifa International Hospital, he was instead taken to PIMS Hospital, where his eye was examined, blood pressure was checked, and an injection was administered to his eye.
She added that the PTI founder also raised complaints regarding his health, the lack of a television, and Bushra Bibi being kept in isolation. Dr. Faisal Sultan said that he was made to wait for several hours after arriving at Shifa International, only to be informed later that the PTI founder would not be arriving. Sohail Afridi remarked that the court orders were not implemented, which amounts to contempt of court.
The government cited security reasons for taking Khan to PIMS instead of Shifa. Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar said that PTI workers created a security situation along the route and outside Shifa Hospital, due to which the prisoner was taken to PIMS Hospital instead.
\سپریم کورٹ کے فیصلے کی روشنی میں، قیدی کو 20 اور 21 اگست 2026 کی درمیانی شب مناسب حفاظتی انتظامات کے تحت ہسپتال لے جایا گیا۔ ماہرِ امراضِ چشم، ماہرِ امراضِ قلب اور فزیشن سمیت مستند ڈاکٹروں کی ٹیم نے ان کا تفصیلی معائنہ کیا اور انہیں طبی طور پر صحت مند قرار دیا۔ ان کی ہمشیرہ…
— Attaullah Tarar (@TararAttaullah) August 21, 2026
Tarar said doctors from Shifa Hospital were also present during the medical examination at PIMS and following a detailed check-up, the specialist doctors declared the PTI founder healthy. Once the entire process was completed, he was shifted back to Adiala Jail. Tarar further emphasized that medical facilities will be provided to the PTI founder whenever needed.
Reacting on Uzma Khan’s statement that Imran Khan was in good health, eyesight getting improved and his blood pressure was 120/88 mmHg, the Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif took to X to post:
“Masha’Allah, Masha’Allah, absolutely fit. Alhumdulillah, she is a sister; she would not misrepresent her brother’s health for political gain or expediency. The parliamentary party was mourning in the National Assembly today, emotions were running high, and God forbid, they were sounding alarm bells regarding IK’s (Imran Khan’s) health. When financial and political interests become tied to the leadership, this is exactly the kind of drama that is put on.”
ماشاءاللہ ماشاءاللہ بلکل فٹ۔الحمدوللہ
— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) August 21, 2026
بہن ھے سیاسی فائدہ یا مصلحت کے لئے بھائ کی صحت کے متعلق غلط بیانی نہیں کرے گی۔
پارلیمانی پارٹی نے آج قومی اسمبلی میں ماتم کناں تھی جذبات شدید تھے IK کی صحت کے متعلق خدانخواستہ خطرے کی گھنٹیاں بجا رہے تھے ۔ جب مالی اور سیاسی مفادات لیڈر… pic.twitter.com/W8gyj7gOTZ
The government, on its part, filed a new petition in the Supreme Court. The petition adopts the stance that the Supreme Court’s decision is based on patent legal errors present on the record. It argues that shifting a convict to a private hospital violates the Pakistan Prison Rules 1978. A prisoner’s insistence on being treated by a private doctor of their own choice does not conform to jail laws, and there is no concept of admitting any prisoner to a private hospital. The petition requests the Supreme Court to review its August 18 order.
The petition pleads that prisoners can only be treated in a jail, civil, or District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital, and moving them to a private hospital will escalate security concerns. It states that government doctors are international experts in their respective fields. Furthermore, the decision was announced without making the Chief Commissioner of Islamabad a party to the case and without issuing a notice. Deciding a case without hearing the other party violates Article 10A of the Constitution.
The petition further contends that the court should not have passed a direct order without obtaining expert technical opinions on the medical report. Section 561-A of the CrPC does not apply to the administrative affairs of jail management. During imprisonment, the rights to movement and meetings are legally restricted, and allowing international telephone calls violates Prison Rule 265. Granting the primary and final relief in the form of interim relief goes against established legal principles. All four prayers were granted on an interim basis at the very initial stage, which is premature. Granting special concessions to one prisoner violates the principle of equal rights under Article 25 of the Constitution. Allowing a private hospital stay will prompt other prisoners to start making similar demands.
It said: “…the Order under Review offends the scheme of Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978 in so far as it gives directions in relation to admission of the Respondent in a private hospital. The lives and affairs of inmates are strictly regulated by law in order to ensure their safety and wellbeing, and to prevent any external infiltration or influence that could have an adverse effect on their lives or the process of sentences undergone by them. A careful study of the Prison Rules transpires that it does not recognize the concept of engaging with private hospital since it would inevitably open up the life of an inmate to various unsafe external variables.”
“There is no gainsaying that the respondent is a convict and has to be treated in accordance with law like any other convict,” the petition said.
The recent development has also invoked a serious reaction from former in-laws of PTI founder.
Zac Goldsmith, the former brother-in-law of Imran Khan, wrote a letter to UK’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, asking him to force the Government of Pakistan over the treatment of Imran Khan.
What is happening to @imrankhanPTI is an abuse on every conceivable level.
— Zac Goldsmith (@ZacGoldsmith) August 21, 2026
Passively monitoring the situation is plainly not enough. It is time for active diplomacy.
-An urgent letter to Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband pic.twitter.com/w3MaaWZny1
Zac Goldsmith said the Pakistani authorities sent a decoy convoy from the jail to Shifa to make it look like that Khan had been moved there. Goldsmith called the situation disturbing.
