Pakistan ex-PM Imran's vision has returned to almost normal after treatment, jail officials tell top court

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s eye condition has improved significantly and his vision is almost normal now following treatment, a report submitted by the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi authorities to the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday said.

The two-page report was filed a day before the court was set to commence the hearing of Imran Khan’s plea for his treatment at Shifa International Islamabad.

The ex-premier, 73, who has been in jail since August 2023, has been taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad for eye treatment multiple times after his eye ailment - right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) - came to light in late January.

In the fresh report, the jail authorities explained that both Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were being provided with adequate healthcare facilities. "Their health and well-being are and have been of paramount importance to the jail administration.”

It said that medical officers visited Khan thrice a day to check his meals and take his vitals, including blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation.

The report added that Khan’s medical records had been maintained since his admission to the jail and several consultants from different specialities had visited the couple for medical examination.

A record of all visiting consultants’ examinations and prescriptions is available with the jail administration and attached to the report.

It said that when Khan was diagnosed with an eye disease, the jail authorities sought immediate medical intervention. As per the report, he was treated at Pims by the hospital’s head of Ophthalmology Dr Muhammad Arif Khan, and Dr Nadeem Qureshi, a Vitreo-Retinal surgeon at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital in Rawalpindi.

Consequently, significant improvement of his eye has been noticed, and his vision returned to almost normal, the report claimed, adding that the medical interventions and improvement of his vision suggested that the jail administration left no stone unturned in providing the convicted prisoner with the best healthcare facilities from the top public sector teaching hospital of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

The report also stated that meetings between Khan and Bushra Bibi were held regularly every Tuesday and 84 such meetings had been held.

The jail report also said that Khan’s counsel Salman Akram Raja, through "media talks, interviews and tweets,” had maligned the constitutional office holders/representative of the state.

It pointed out that a larger bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), headed by Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar had disposed of a contempt proceeding on March 24, 2025 in the Mishal Azam case and cited the court order in which it was stated that Raja had "given undertaking that no media talk would be given by the persons with respect to the matters discussed in interview outside the jail premises.”

Despite clear directions by IHC, Raja allegedly violated the "privilege of the interview by advancing political agenda on media” following meetings with the prisoners.

"This was also in flagrant violation of Rule-265 of Pakistan Prison Rules 1978,” the report and requested the Supreme Court to dispose of the criminal appeal for being devoid of merits.
In its report, the jail authorities also attached IHC orders, several news clippings based on statements issued by PTI leaders, social media posts claiming the couple was facing serious health risks in custody, a summary of their check-ups by consultants on different dates and relevant medical reports.

Headed by Justice Shahid Wahid, a three-judge apex court bench, also consisting of Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, will take up Khan’s petition on Aug.18.
The Supreme Court had ordered an early  hearing of the former premier’s petition. Through a criminal appeal, the petitioner had requested to be shifted to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital and access to his family and personal physicians.