Medical team examines Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi at Adiala jail

A special medical team visited Adiala jail and examined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, separately, according to jail sources.

The team included Dr Muhammad Ali and Dr Muhammad Arif of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), along with paramedical staff. The two were given full check-ups and follow-up examinations, and some necessary tests were also conducted.

Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi also met during the examinations and inquired after each other’s health, the sources said. The medical team left the jail after completing the check-ups. The sources added that the couple were then moved to separate blocks.

Jailed since 2023

Imran Khan has been imprisoned since August 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts, and is serving a 14-year sentence at Adiala jail in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case. His health has deteriorated during his sentence, Dawn has reported, prompting an outcry from his party. The government and the opposition have traded blame, with the PTI accusing authorities of a lack of transparency and of denying his personal physicians access to him. The government denies the allegations.

Doctors’ recommendations

Dr Akhtar Ali Bandeshah, a cardiologist at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), examined Khan on August 1 and noted complaints of fluctuating blood pressure, palpitations, headache and restlessness. He recommended a CT coronary angiography, higher blood pressure medication and measures to reduce mental stress, noting that the 74-year-old faced a risk of complications. On August 10, a medical board of Pims specialists recommended a daily one-hour walk, access to newspapers, television and books, and more frequent contact with his immediate family.

A report by the Adiala superintendent told the Supreme Court that adequate healthcare was being provided to Khan and his wife, with medical officers visiting him three times a day. It also said his vision, after treatment for an eye condition at Pims, had almost returned to normal.

Supreme Court order

On August 18, a three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed directed the government to shift Khan to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within two days. “A prisoner does not, by reason of his incarceration, cease to be entitled to humane treatment and necessary medical care,” the order said. The government filed a review petition, which the registrar’s office returned over incomplete paper books. The same day, his sister Noreen Niazi was granted her first meeting with him this year.

Pims instead of Shifa

Khan was instead taken to Pims overnight between August 20 and 21 and returned to Adiala at about 5am. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said a team including an ophthalmologist, a cardiologist and a physician declared him “medically fit”, with his sister Uzma Khan present. Tarar cited the security situation created by PTI workers on the way to and outside Shifa for the change. Around 800 personnel had been deployed at the private hospital.

CT angiography row

Reports later emerged that the recommended angiography had not been done at Pims, where staff reportedly said the facility was unavailable. Doctors told Dawn that a 128-slice CT scanner, operational since March 2022, could perform it. PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram demanded the test at Shifa and asked whether the decision to take Khan to Pims was “made in advance to prevent the CTA from being conducted”.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed an inquiry committee headed by the establishment division secretary. Separately, 22 former international cricketers, including 21 ex-captains, wrote to Sharif asking that Khan receive treatment in line with the court’s directives, Cricinfo reported. They asked that a full independent assessment be completed, particularly of the reported loss of vision in his right eye.

Family detained

Khan’s sisters Noreen, Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan have been in detention since September 21 under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, on the Lahore deputy commissioner’s orders. They are serving a second 30-day term, extended on October 7, amid a reported crackdown ahead of the PTI’s march to Islamabad.

Noreen, 70, was moved from Kot Lakhpat jail to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology with high blood pressure, her lawyer said. The PTI condemned the transfer without informing her family. On October 29, Rana Sanaullah told the Senate she was “fine” and that all her tests were “normal”. He added that any relief regarding Khan’s health and meetings should be sought from the courts. PTI Senator Barrister Ali Zafar alleged that Khan had been kept in solitary confinement for a year and tortured, and that Bushra Bibi was facing inhumane treatment. The government denies this and says both are being given the facilities they are entitled to.