Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was declared medically fit and returned to prison after an overnight examination at a government hospital, the country’s information minister said Friday.
The visit ended sooner than his supporters expected, with his party accusing authorities of violating a Supreme Court directive requiring him to remain under medical supervision.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said the Supreme Court order issued earlier this week required the former premier to remain under medical care until at least mid-September.
Khan was examined at the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences rather than the private Shifa International Hospital recommended by the court. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the change was necessary because of a “security situation created by PTI workers” along the planned route.
The PTI called the move an “open violation” of the court order.
“Bring forward the full reports, comply with the order. Health is not propaganda, it is a fundamental human right,” PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said in a post on X.
The perception that authorities forcibly returned Khan to prison could trigger renewed anger among his supporters and heighten political tensions and street protests. The former cricket star’s supporters gathered along roads in the capital, Islamabad, overnight, throwing flowers at a vehicle they believed was carrying him to the hospital.
Khan, one of Pakistan’s most popular political figures, has been imprisoned since 2023 and remains at the center of a prolonged political confrontation between his party and the government.
The images, aired live on Pakistani television, stood in stark contrast to how the country’s broadcasters had covered Khan in recent years, often avoiding even mentioning the ousted leader’s name until Thursday night.
Senior PTI members had expected Khan to remain hospitalized for at least several weeks after he was allowed to leave prison for his first health examination since February.
Pakistan’s Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry told ARY News on Thursday that “if doctors decide that his treatment at the hospital is necessary, he will be admitted. If they opine that he can be treated in jail, he will be sent back.”
“A team of qualified doctors, including an ophthalmologist, a cardiologist and a physician, conducted a detailed examination of him and declared him medically fit,” Tarar said Friday morning.
In its order Tuesday, the Supreme Court told authorities to transfer Khan to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within two days and allow him access to a medical panel that includes his personal physician.
His sister, Uzma Khan, was present during the examination, Tarar said, and Khan was transferred back to Adiala jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi at 5:00 a.m. (12:00 a.m. GMT).
Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023. He says the cases against him are politically motivated, an accusation the government denies.
His lawyers say his health has deteriorated in prison and that he has lost significant vision in his right eye. The government has said medical reports disclosed no condition requiring immediate treatment.
In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, PTI spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari called the ruling a “new ray of hope” but said the party would proceed with a nationwide march on Sept. 27 to demand access to Khan, speedy hearings in his cases and his release.
