New Delhi: Outrage surrounding former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s health has finally led to a breakthrough. A day after former president Arif Alvi posted a tweet on the grave ailments plaguing Khan in jail, the Supreme Court of Pakistan Tuesday ordered his transfer to a private hospital. Khan will remain in hospital until the next hearing on 16 September.
Pakistani citizens across the spectrum—politicians, activists, and civil society members—have welcomed the move. Speculation about his health has been swirling for months and gained momentum after Pakistani journalist Wajahat S Khan speculated in a YouTube video that Imran Khan was dead. He later walked back his claims, saying that his information was based on military sources at GHQ. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) then launched a campaign to pressure the government to allow visits to Adiala jail.
Alvi’s tweet brought the spotlight back as the president called Khan’s medical reports ‘alarming’.
“I am deeply worried. Isolation is taking a physical toll on his body. If this is not addressed immediately, the damage may become irreversible with more complications to follow. @ImranKhanPTI definitely needs to be moved to a hospital environment now, under an independent panel of doctors. Neither his family nor the people of Pakistan trust government-appointed doctors alone. We have already seen reports manipulated before, numbers exaggerated or suppressed, platelets among them. The next three months will decide whether his condition is reversed or becomes permanent,” he wrote.
The revelation was not new, but it came from a former president. Even international activists spoke up in support.
“Free Imran Khan you fools,” former UK MP George Galloway posted on X.
Irish activist Matt O’Branain made an appeal to save Khan. “Pakistan. Imran will die (or suffer long term I’ll health at best) if you don’t organise and save him ASAP. This is not a test. This is your destiny,” he wrote.
Turkish poet Turgay Evren went a step further and called on Alvi to speak to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to intervene.
Even the domestic crowd seems to have reached a consensus. Most Pakistanis rallied in Khan’s support, calling for his release.
“No one should stoop so low and become so vile in opposing anyone,” Pakistani journalist Shahid Aslam tweeted.
Cultural critic Sabahat Zakariya drew comparisons with former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
“If Nawaz Sharif could be sent abroad for low platelets, surely Imran Khan can be taken to a hospital within Pakistan. How highly they think of his popularity among the people that they are certain a single glimpse will threaten the entire order they have constructed through military might,” she wrote.
Khan, 73, was elected prime minister of Pakistan in 2018 and removed from office in April 2022 after a parliamentary vote of no confidence. Since his arrest, PTI has faced strong restrictions and was effectively excluded from the 2024 general elections.
Khan was first arrested on 9 May 2023, triggering mass protests across Pakistan. He was arrested again on 5 Aug 2023 and has since remained in jail. In January 2025, he was acquitted in cases involving official secrets and his ‘un-Islamic’ marriage to Bushra Bibi Khan. He is currently serving a 14-year sentence in a corruption case. Bushra Bibi was sentenced to seven years in the same case.
In December 2025, Khan and Bushra Bibi received additional 17-year prison sentences in a separate case involving state gifts.
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Supreme Court orders hospital transfer
The Supreme Court has now directed a comprehensive medical examination.
A three-member bench issued the order while hearing petitions seeking Khan’s hospitalisation and permission for meetings with his family, adding that the directive was aimed at safeguarding Khan’s health and safety. The court noted that the right to life and access to medical care are protected under Article 9 of the Constitution, Dawn reported.
Additional Attorney General Chaudhry Aamir Rehman opposed the proposed transfer, arguing that Khan could not currently be moved to the private hospital and that the government had not been formally notified. The court, however, proceeded with the order.
The bench also granted Khan access to his personal physician, Dr Faisal Sultan, and his sister, Dr Uzma, and ordered the formation of a medical board to oversee his treatment. The Court further directed his family to bear the treatment costs and barred the sharing of his medical report with the media.
“Excellent development. Access to medical treatment & visitation rights should never be subject to the whims of the executive. Hope this order is implemented & can create the conditions for some restoration of normalcy in our national politics,” Pakistani activist Ammar Rashid wrote on X.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
Imran Khan inspired our very own Siddhu (Navjyot Singh). The logic was deceptively simple ‘If I can be the PM of Pakistan, what stops you from being the CM of Punjab?’.
Siddhu fell for the idea and give it his best shot. Ended up finishing off the political career of Captain Amarinder Singh.
Congress ended up losing Punjab – that was Imran’s plan all along. Khan saab had the last laugh ‘Kya ullu banaya?’