SC returns petition seeking Imran's transfer to hospital

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday returned a petition for the transfer of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan to a hospital, after the court raised objections to the petition.

The lawyer for the PTI founder, Sardar Latif Khosa and Naeem Panjutha, appeared before the court of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and asked for the fixing of their petition for a hearing.

"Please fix our petition for a hearing," Khosa said, adding that an application for an urgent hearing had been filed the previous day. CJP Afridi, however, told the lawyer that the petition had already been returned with objections. "Your petitions will remain pending until further orders. You have no such petition pending on which proceedings can be conducted," he said.

Khosa said that the court had ordered medical treatment for the PTI founder, but CJP Afridi disagreed, saying "the court did not issue an order, rather, the government had given an assurance." The chief justice said that the health issue was no longer pending before the court and that the lawyer should re-read the decision.

This, according to Khosa, was not on political or legal considerations but on humanitarian considerations, to which CJP responded that the medical check-up was also done on humanitarian considerations.

Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, addressing Khosa, said, "I have known you since 1992. I understand what you are saying and through which channel you are saying it." However, CJP Afridi Afridi reminded Khosa of court procedure. "Khosa Sahib, you are a senior lawyer; you must be aware of the Supreme Court's procedure," he said, instructing him to go to the Registrar for a copy of the objections. "If he does not provide a copy, you may approach the court," he said.

Khosa, before leaving, questioned why he had not been informed of the order passed the previous day. "If an order was passed yesterday, why have we not been informed yet?" he said.

Senior members of the PTI party on Wednesday filed a petition in the Supreme Court, requesting Imran's transfer to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for medical treatment. The petition was filed by Khosa in the Toshakhana criminal case under Rule 35(6) of the Supreme Court Rules, 2025, based on a health assessment report prepared by barrister Salman Safdar