PTI files contempt petition in SC over alleged violation of order on Imran’s hospital transfer
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday filed a contempt of court petition in the Supreme Court (SC) over the alleged violation of the court’s Tuesday order concerning the transfer of founder Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital.
The petition was filed after Imran was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for a medical examination in the early hours of Friday and returned to Adiala jail after doctors declared him “medically fit”. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Imran was taken to the government-run facility because of the security situation created by PTI workers outside and on the way to Shifa International Hospital.
PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja reached the SC today, where the petition was filed by Imran’s sister Uzma Khan, lawyer Uzair Bhandari and Raja.
The petition sought proceedings over the violation of the SC’s Tuesday order, including issuance of show-cause notices to the respondents, contemnors and orders for their personal appearance.
The petition asked the court to declare the respondents guilty of contempt of court and punish them in accordance with law.
It further sought the immediate transfer of PTI founder to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad and his medical examination there and pleaded the court to appoint a court officer or a local commission to ensure implementation of the order.
A contempt of court petition has named Chief Commissioner Islamabad Sohail Ashraf, the interior secretary, the inspector general of prisons and a jail superintendent as respondents over alleged non-compliance with directions issued by the SC.
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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and the federal information minister have also been made respondents in the petition.
The petition maintained that immediately after the court order, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry issued a statement regarding its implementation.
It further stated that on the evening of August 18, the law minister announced that a review petition would be filed, while the inspector general of prisons said the prisoner could only be shifted to a government hospital. According to the petition, a review petition was filed on August 19 but was later withdrawn.
The petition also referred to statements by the information minister regarding the hospital where the PTI founder was to be shifted. It said the minister did not name any hospital in his first tweet, while PIMS Hospital was named in a second tweet.
کچھ مزید تفصیلات:
طبی معائنہ پمز ہسپتال میں کرایا گیا جس میں الشفا ہسپتال کے ڈاکٹرز بھی موجود تھے۔
پی ٹی ائی کے کارکنوں کی طرف سے جو سیکیورٹی کی صورتحال الشفا ہسپتال کے راستے میں اور باہر پیدا کی گئی اس کے پیش نظر ان کو پمز ہسپتال لے جایا گیا اور طبی معائنے کے مطابق وہ صحت… https://t.co/soNoD1bmu1
— Attaullah Tarar (@TararAttaullah) August 21, 2026
According to the petition, four directions contained in the SC’s order had been allegedly violated. These included the failure to transfer Imran to Shifa Hospital, to constitute a medical board, to have him examined by the board, and to include Dr Faisal Sultan on the medical board.
It argued that the security situation was not a valid justification for not transferring Imran to Shifa Hospital.
The petition also cited a SC ruling in the Adnan A. Khawaja case, arguing that responsibility for non-compliance with a court order rests with the chief executive, namely the prime minister.
The same principle was applied in the Yousuf Raza Gilani case, according to the petition, which argued that it should also apply in the present case.
Read: Govt calls SC order to shift Imran to private hospital ‘discriminatory’, files review petition
Speaking about the timing of the petition, Raja said that if the contempt petition had been filed the following day, it would have been taken up on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.
“It has been filed today as well, so the same thing will happen. It is not the case that the bench will sit and start hearing it within an hour,” he said.
He said this could happen if the court had a special intention to take up the matter.
“If we had filed it tomorrow, it would have been taken up tomorrow. It is wrong to say otherwise,” he added.
🚨🚨 بریکینگ نیوز : سلمان اکرم راجہ نے فیکٹ کیساتھ ساری تفصیل بتادی ۔!!!🔥🔥🔥
سر پورا ہفتہ یہ بینچ موجود نہیں ہے, کیا کہیں گے آپ؟ سوال؟🛑
سلمان اکرم راجہ کا واضح بیان : کل درخواست دائر نہیں ہوسکتی تھی, کیونکہ ہمیں ساڑھے چھ بجے تک صورتحال واضح نہیں تھی ۔ ہمیں نہیں پتہ تھا کہ رات… pic.twitter.com/4btqwPcUkd
— Anisha KHAN (@anishakhanpti) August 22, 2026
The SC has adjourned the hearing of the case until September 16.
A day earlier, the Islamabad chief commissioner has challenged the SC’s August 18 order directing the transfer of Imran to a private hospital, arguing that the decision contains apparent legal errors and conflicts with prison rules.
The SC had ordered that Imran be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for treatment for the next few days and directed the government to arrange weekly meetings between him and his family.
In response, the government had filed a review petition before the SC, describing its order as “discriminatory in nature”.
On Thursday, the SC returned the review petition due to an objection that the required paper books had not been completed along with the review plea, according to sources.
In a review petition filed before the Supreme Court, the chief commissioner has requested the court to reconsider its Tuesday order.
The petition argued that transferring a convicted prisoner to a private hospital is contrary to the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978, which contain no provision for admitting prisoners to private hospitals.
On Tuesday, SC ordered that Imran be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for treatment for the next few days and directed the government to arrange weekly meetings between him and his family.
The hearing came after a medical board report and a report by the Adiala Jail Superintendent submitted to the SC on Monday recommended more frequent meetings between Imran and his immediate family and spouse to help manage his blood pressure and anxiety, highlighting concerns over the former premier’s blood pressure (BP).
Legal fraternity sounds alarm over Imran’s health
PTI founder Imran’s deteriorating health and the government’s alleged refusal to fully implement SC directions on his medical treatment triggered a strong reaction from the legal fraternity on Saturday, that also with his counsel warned that the matter had reached an “extremely serious” stage and questioning how long the former prime minister could be denied his basic rights and access to justice.
PTI lawyer’s leaders made clear that if the situation remains unchanged and continued disregard of the court’s orders could trigger protests, including a sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly after the judicial vacation.
Addressing a press conference at the Lahore High Court (LHC) Bar Association, Imran’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar said the SC’s decision concerning his client’s medical treatment was in accordance with the Constitution and law and should be welcomed.
Safdar alleged that despite repeated court orders, Imran Khan had been denied basic facilities and was being kept in isolation, while his cases were also not being taken up for hearing with the frequency required.
He said he had met Imran in 2022, when the PTI founder had told him that three or four “false cases” could potentially be registered against him. “But more than 400 cases were subsequently instituted against him,” Safdar claimed, describing the number of cases as an unprecedented situation.
Read more: Wasting opportunity to ease political tensions is ‘tantamount to treason’: Achakzai
“Imran Khan is neither a terrorist nor involved in any case against the state,” Safdar said, adding that the PTI founder had, however, been convicted in a Toshakhana case.
LHC Bar Association President Babar Murtaza said Imran had been kept in jail through what he described as “false cases” and alleged that the PTI founder had spent around 10 months in solitary confinement.
He said the SC had considered Imran Khan’s medical reports before issuing directions concerning his treatment. According to Babar, the court had ordered his medical examination at Shifa International Hospital and required the presence of his sister and personal physician.
Babar termed the alleged failure to comply with the SC’s order a violation of fundamental rights and said deliberately disregarding a judicial order could amount to contempt of court.
Senator Hamid Khan said that a country where the Constitution and law were not respected would inevitably face growing unrest.
He warned that failure to implement judicial decisions could lead to “anarchy” and strongly criticised what he described as interference with the judicial process.
Hamid alleged that the country was being run under a “military regime” through what he called “puppets” and claimed that attempts were being made to create separate judicial forums to obtain desired decisions.
He alleged that if relief was not secured from one superior court, litigants were expected to approach another, describing such a situation as harmful to the independence of the judiciary.
Referring to Imran’s health, Hamid said the PTI founder had expressed concern that his health was being destroyed. He also voiced fears that Imran could suffer the fate of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who died in custody in 2019.
Govt defends ‘last-minute’ switch from Shifa
Tarar said the examination was conducted under tight security in the light of the SC’s directive, with a team comprising an ophthalmologist, cardiologist and physician examining Imran. His sister Uzma was also present during the examination.
The minister later clarified that doctors from Al Shifa Hospital were also present at PIMS, adding that Imran was taken to the government-run facility because of the security situation created by PTI workers outside and on the way to Shifa International Hospital.
Tarar’s initial statement did not specifically identify the hospital where Imran had been taken.
The information minister subsequently clarified that Imran was taken to PIMS, a government-run facility where the PTI founder has received treatment for an eye ailment in recent months.
Opposition alliance takes shape
Opposition parties on Friday night agreed to form a joint opposition in Parliament, with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman saying the alliance would seek to play a more effective role amid worsening law and order, growing challenges to the government’s writ and “a lack of preparedness to deal with the country’s crises”.
The announcement came after a meeting of opposition leaders at Fazlur Rehman’s residence in Islamabad.
National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai warned that the opposition would approach international courts if it was “forced” to do so, while Raja said the opposition was currently uniting inside Parliament and that the “next phase” would see the alliance take its politics to the streets.
