Doctors from a medical team carried out separate examinations of former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, at Adiala jail, jail sources said. The team included specialists from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and paramedical staff. Both detainees received full check-ups and follow-up assessments, and some required tests were also carried out.
Check-ups at Adiala jail and a brief meeting
Dr Muhammad Ali and Dr Muhammad Arif were among the doctors who attended. According to the sources, Khan and Bushra Bibi met during the examinations and asked about each other’s health. Once the check-ups were finished, the medical team left the jail, and the couple were then moved into separate blocks.
Earlier medical advice and a Supreme Court order
Khan has been held since August 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts. He is serving a 14-year sentence at Adiala in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case. Media reports say his health has declined during his imprisonment, which has prompted an outcry from his party. The PTI accuses authorities of a lack of transparency and of blocking his personal physicians from seeing him, while the government rejects those allegations.
Also read: Imaan Mazari, Hadi Ali sentenced to 10 years in jail
Dr Akhtar Ali Bandeshah, a cardiologist at PIMS, examined Khan on August 1 and recorded fluctuating blood pressure, palpitations, headaches and restlessness. He recommended a CT coronary angiography, stronger blood pressure medication and steps to reduce mental stress, warning that the 74-year-old faced a risk of complications. On August 10, a PIMS medical board advised a daily one-hour walk, access to newspapers, television and books, and more frequent contact with his immediate family.
A report by the Adiala superintendent told the Supreme Court that adequate healthcare was being provided to Khan and his wife, with medical officers visiting him three times a day. The report added that his eyesight had almost returned to normal after treatment at PIMS for an eye condition. On August 18, a three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed directed the government to move Khan to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within two days. “A prisoner does not, by reason of his incarceration, cease to be entitled to humane treatment and necessary medical care,” the order said.
Angiography dispute and the PIMS transfer
The government filed a review petition, but the registrar’s office returned it over incomplete paperwork. On the same day, Khan’s sister Noreen Niazi was granted her first meeting with him this year. Instead of going to Shifa, Khan was taken to PIMS overnight between August 20 and 21 and was returned to Adiala at about 5am.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said a team including an ophthalmologist, a cardiologist and a physician had declared Khan “medically fit”, with his sister Uzma Khan present. Tarar linked the change of venue to the security situation created by PTI workers travelling to and gathering outside Shifa. About 800 personnel had been deployed at the private hospital.
Later reports said the recommended angiography had not been carried out at PIMS, where staff reportedly said the facility was unavailable. Doctors told a newspaper that a 128-slice CT scanner, operational since March 2022, could perform the test. PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram demanded the test be conducted at Shifa and asked whether the decision to take Khan to PIMS was “made in advance to prevent the CTA from being conducted”. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed an inquiry committee headed by the establishment division secretary.
Separately, 22 former international cricketers, including 21 former captains, wrote to Sharif asking that Khan receive treatment in line with the court’s directives, according to reports. They called for a full independent assessment, particularly of the reported loss of vision in his right eye.
Sisters detained as party alleges mistreatment
Khan’s sisters Noreen, Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan have been in detention since September 21 under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, on the orders of the Lahore deputy commissioner. They are serving a second 30-day term, which was extended on October 7, amid a reported crackdown ahead of the PTI’s march to Islamabad.
Noreen, 70, was moved from Kot Lakhpat jail to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology over high blood pressure, her lawyer said. The PTI condemned the transfer, saying it had been carried out without informing her family.
On October 29, Rana Sanaullah told the Senate that she was “fine” and that all her tests were “normal”. He added that any relief regarding Khan’s health and meetings should be sought from the courts. PTI Senator Barrister Ali Zafar alleged that Khan had been kept in solitary confinement for a year and tortured, and that Bushra Bibi was facing inhumane treatment. The government denies this and says both are being given the facilities they are entitled to.
