Pakistan to challenge order to move jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to private hospital

The Pakistani government will challenge an order to move former prime minister Imran Khan from prison to a private hospital.

Mr Khan has been in jail in Rawalpindi since August 2023 after a string of convictions that his supporters and human rights groups say are politically motivated.

The former prime minister's health has reportedly been declining during his sentence, and he is said to have lost 85% of his vision in his right eye.

His spokesperson Zulfi Bukhari told Sky News' The World with Yalda Hakim earlier this year that Mr Khan's doctor has not been allowed to treat him, and that he has not received adequate care.

On Tuesday, Pakistan's supreme court ordered the government to move Mr Khan, 73, to the private Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within two days, and that he be given access to his personal physician.

The court order also directed the authorities to ensure a telephone call is held twice a week between the former prime minister and his two sons, who live in London.

But the country's law minister has said that the government will challenge the decision, saying authorities had deliberated on the ruling and decided that the court should be approached for a review.

"This order is not within four walls of the law," Azam Nazeer Tarar said in a statement, adding that a convicted prisoner has to be treated either inside the jail or at a public hospital according to law.

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Mr Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party welcomed the order, saying it should be implemented "immediately, fully, and without delay".

Mr Bukhari also told Sky News presenter Mark Austin on Tuesday afternoon that the court's order was a "welcome step" that should have been taken much earlier.

"That doesn't mean that we're going to call off our 27 September protest at the moment," he added, referring to the latest demonstration calling for Mr Khan's release.

He also said that he hopes that "the Supreme Court sticks by its guns and rejects the review and puts the government under contempt".

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Mr Khan has been in jail since his August 2023 arrest after he was handed a three-year prison term for illegally selling state gifts.

In January 2025, he was handed a 14-year sentence in a corruption case, and in December, he was sentenced to 17 years in prison for buying state gifts at a knock-down price.

All convictions but one have been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending. He denies wrongdoing and says the cases are politically driven.

He served as prime minister until 2022, when he was removed from office by a vote of no confidence.

(c) Sky News 2026: Pakistan to challenge order to move jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to private hospita