Adiala jail authorities have told the Supreme Court that former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan’s eyesight has improved significantly and has “returned to almost normal” following treatment for an eye condition.
The report was submitted a day before the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear Khan’s petition seeking treatment at Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital.
Khan, who has been incarcerated since August 2023, was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad several times after he was diagnosed with right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), an eye condition that came to light in late January.
The issue has triggered a dispute between the PTI and the government. The government has accused the opposition party of failing to ensure transparency regarding Khan’s treatment, while the PTI has demanded that he be shifted to Shifa International, treated in the presence of his personal physicians and allowed to meet his family.
In its latest report submitted to the apex court, the jail administration said Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were being provided with adequate healthcare facilities.
“Their health and well-being are and have been of paramount importance to the jail administration,” the report stated.
According to the report, medical officers visited Khan three times a day to monitor his meals and vital signs, including blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation.
It said Khan’s medical records had been maintained since his admission to jail, while consultants from various medical specialties had examined both Khan and Bushra. Records of the consultants’ examinations and prescriptions were also attached to the report.
The jail authorities said immediate medical intervention was arranged after Khan was diagnosed with the eye condition. He was treated at Pims by its head of ophthalmology, Dr Muhammad Arif Khan, and Dr Nadeem Qureshi, a vitreo-retinal surgeon at Alshifa Trust Eye Hospital in Rawalpindi.
“Consequently, significant improvement of his eye has been noticed, and his vision returned to almost normal,” the report claimed.
It maintained that the treatment provided at Pims demonstrated that the jail administration had made every effort to ensure Khan received healthcare from a leading public-sector teaching hospital.
The report also stated that meetings between Khan and Bushra were held regularly on Tuesdays, with 84 meetings having taken place so far.
The jail administration also accused Khan’s counsel, Salman Akram Raja, of criticising constitutional office-holders and state representatives through media appearances, interviews and social media posts.
It referred to an Islamabad High Court order in a contempt case involving Raja, saying he had undertaken not to give media interviews regarding matters discussed during meetings with prisoners outside jail premises.
According to the report, Raja subsequently violated the court’s directions by using media platforms to advance a political agenda after meeting prisoners, which the authorities described as a violation of Rule 265 of the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978.
The jail administration has requested the Supreme Court to dismiss Khan’s criminal appeal, terming it devoid of merit.
It also attached IHC orders, news reports, social media posts by PTI leaders regarding the health of Khan and Bushra, records of medical consultations and relevant medical reports.
A three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Shahid Wahid and comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, is scheduled to hear Khan’s petition on August 18.
The Supreme Court had earlier ordered an early hearing of the former premier’s plea, through which he sought treatment at Shifa International Hospital as well as access to his family and personal physicians.
