By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has ordered a hearing next week on a plea by the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to be transferred from Adiala prison to a private hospital for treatment of a serious eye condition, while simultaneously fixing the date for arguments in his main appeal against conviction in the high-profile Toshakhana corruption case.
A division bench comprising Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro directed the court registrar’s office on Tuesday to list both the miscellaneous application for medical treatment at Shifa International Hospital and the principal appeal for 10 March. The same bench heard submissions on objections initially raised by the registrar’s office against the filing of Khan’s application.
Senior counsel Latif Khosa, appearing alongside Salman Akram Raja and other members of the defence team, told the court that one objection related to the absence of a certified copy of the power of attorney. Justice Tahir accepted that two of the objections were valid and instructed the office to number the application once they were removed. At one point the judges pressed the defence on why arguments had not yet begun on the substantive appeal. The bench also inquired whether the paper book was ready and ordered its preparation within two to three days.
After brief discussion the court decided to hear both matters together on 10 March, issuing notices to the state on the hospital transfer request. “Come prepared for the next hearing,” Justice Tahir told the lawyers.
Khan, 73, has been held at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail since his arrest on 5 August 2023. He was initially convicted in the Toshakhana case for allegedly concealing details of state gifts received during his time in office, though the Islamabad high court suspended his three-year sentence in that matter on 29 August 2023. His continued detention stemmed from separate proceedings, including a cipher case in which he was later acquitted. He was convicted again in a second Toshakhana-related case in December 2025 and sentenced, alongside his wife Bushra Bibi, to a combined 17 years for the alleged purchase of a Bulgari jewellery set at a discounted price. That set had been gifted by the Saudi crown prince during an official visit in May 2021.
The high court is also due to hear petitions from Khan and Bushra Bibi on 11 March seeking suspension of their sentences in the £190m corruption case. Last week Justice Soomro cleared procedural objections on those applications.
Khan’s family and legal team have grown increasingly alarmed about his health since an eye ailment – diagnosed as right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) – emerged in late January. A lawyer who met him after intervention by the supreme court reported partial vision loss in his right eye; subsequent medical assessment found his corrected vision in that eye to be 6/9. Both his family and personal physicians have pressed for admission to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad. The supreme court last week raised objections to a separate plea seeking his transfer to a facility of his choice.
In a separate but related development on Tuesday, an Islamabad district and sessions court granted anticipatory bail to Khan in six cases involving allegations of incitement, defamation, road blocking and violation of public order. Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka confirmed the interim pre-arrest bail, directing Khan to furnish fresh surety bonds of Rs50,000 in each matter.
The judge repeatedly noted in his orders that there was “nothing on record” beyond the original first information reports to substantiate the charges. In one case linked to protests that erupted after Khan’s brief detention in 2023, the court observed: “No material is available against petitioner regarding act of provoking which was witnessed by any witness.” The May 2023 violence, in which PTI supporters attacked government and military installations, led to a broad crackdown on the party.
In the defamation case, the complaint stemmed from televised remarks in which Khan allegedly accused army officers of wanting “to see him defeated and killed”. The judge found no evidence on record proving the offence. Bail was also extended to Bushra Bibi in a separate Toshakhana matter concerning alleged fake receipts for state gifts such as watches and cufflinks. The prosecution, the court ruled, had failed to produce supporting material.
Khan has faced dozens of cases since his removal from power through a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. He and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party maintain that the prosecutions are politically engineered to sideline him. The government has rejected the claim, insisting the legal process is independent.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
