PTI Flags Imran Khan Health, Urges CJP to Act
Imran Khan health is the focus of fresh alarm from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), after its core committee met late on Thursday night and urged the chief justice to enforce court orders on his treatment.
The meeting followed reports that Imran’s blood pressure had recently surged to 192. The committee called the reports extremely alarming and described his health as an urgent humanitarian issue.
Imran, 74, has been held in Adiala jail since his arrest in 2023, more than three years ago.
What the core committee decided
Briefed on Imran’s November 2 meeting with his lawyer, Salman Safdar, at Adiala jail, the first between the two since April, the committee then passed a unanimous resolution.
“The core committee unanimously resolved that protecting Imran Khan’s health and life is an urgent humanitarian issue, and that any negligence, delay or irresponsibility in this regard is unacceptable. His health should be treated as a serious humanitarian and medical emergency rather than merely a political or legal dispute,” the statement read.
The committee demanded immediate, unhindered access for Imran’s personal physicians, all necessary medical tests without delay, and his transfer to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for a full medical evaluation and treatment.
Imran Khan health: the 192 reading and the dispute
The figure at the centre of the row is a blood pressure reading of 192, reported by the party and Imran’s family after the November 2 jail meeting. It has not been independently verified, and no official medical account of it has been published.
Accounts of that meeting differ. Salman Safdar has said he was not the source of the alarming health reports. Other people familiar with the meeting have said Imran mentioned a reading near 190 but looked generally fit.
Imran’s sister, Rubina Khan, has said his blood pressure was normal as recently as a year ago, and has demanded his admission to an independent medical institution in Islamabad, in the presence of his personal doctor and a doctor of the family’s choice.
In August, Imran was taken to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences for examination and then returned to his cell. His sister, who is a doctor, checked his blood pressure herself that day and said it was 120/80.
The court orders at the centre of the appeal
The committee’s appeal rests on court orders about Imran’s treatment. The party and the family say a Supreme Court order from August, directing treatment at Shifa International Hospital, has not been carried out.
The Islamabad High Court has allowed Imran to meet family members, lawyers and other associates twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Feature Pakistan reported on the court’s jail-visit mechanism earlier.
The committee said carrying out court orders was a constitutional and legal duty that could not be evaded, and asked the chief justice to give the matter immediate attention.
The appeal comes as the party faces pressure on several legal fronts: the Federal Constitutional Court has barred the Peshawar High Court from hearing detention cases filed on or after October 12, in an order Feature Pakistan reported on Friday, and PTI lawmaker Javed Kausar was detained under the Maintenance of Public Order law.
What happens next
The committee urged all PTI lawmakers, party organisations and office-bearers to raise the issue of Imran’s health, treatment and rights with full force in Parliament, the provincial assemblies and other relevant forums. The party’s political committee has also been meeting to keep its ranks united as the crisis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continues.
Dawn’s report carried no response from the government or the jail authorities. Until an independent medical examination takes place, the two sides are likely to keep giving very different accounts of the same man in the same cell.
What did PTI’s core committee say about Imran Khan’s health?
It called the reported surge to 192 extremely alarming and said protecting his health and life was an urgent humanitarian issue, not only a political or legal dispute.
What is PTI demanding for Imran Khan?
It wants immediate, unhindered access for his personal physicians, all necessary medical tests without delay, and his transfer to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.
Has the blood pressure reading of 192 been verified?
No. It comes from the party and Imran’s family after his November 2 meeting with his lawyer, who has said he was not the source of the alarming reports. No official medical account has been published.
What court orders does PTI say have not been implemented?
They say a Supreme Court order from August, directing treatment at Shifa International Hospital, has not been carried out. The Islamabad High Court has allowed Imran twice-weekly meetings with family and lawyers.
