The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the formation of a medical team to examine ex-premier Imran Khan’s eye and also directed that he be allowed to speak to his children — both before February 16.
The instructions came as a two-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and including Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan resumed hearing the case regarding the PTI founder’s living conditions in Adiala jail.
The court ordered that the eye inspection and the phone calls be conducted before February 16 (Monday).
However, the bench dismissed the request to have the condition of Imran’s eye — after he underwent a medical procedure on January 24 — examined in the presence of his family members.
“The issue of Imran’s health is most important,” CJP Afridi observed, adding that “intervention was necessary”.
“We want to know the government’s stance on the matter of his (Imran’s) health,” the top judge said, at which Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan affirmed that it was the state’s responsibility to provide medical facilities.
“If the prisoner is not satisfied, then the state will take measures,” AGP Awan added.
CJP Afridi then noted that the issue of Imran’s “telephone calls with his children is also important”.
“We are trusting the government. The government is in a good mood today,” he remarked.
On the request to provide some books to the PTI founder, AGP Awan said it would be done after consultation with eye doctors.
Noting that the SC had received reports from PTI counsel Advocate Salman Safdar and the Adiala jail superintendent, the chief justice said: “Most of the things in both reports are similar — the place is good, the facilities are fine.”
Noting that the issue of Imran’s meetings with his family members was pending before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Justice Afridi said it would be appropriate for the relevant forum to decide on that.
Imran claims major loss in right eye’s vision
Advocate Safdar, who was appointed amicus curiae and met Imran at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Tuesday, had submitted a seven-page report to the SC regarding Imran’s living condition in the prison.
The report, seen by Dawn, detailed Safdar’s meeting with Imran, the cell conditions, the facilities and amenities provided to the ex-premier, his living compound’s description, as well as the lawyer’s process of reaching the jail.
In his report, Safdar quoted Imran as telling him that “despite the treatment administered (including an injection), he has been left with only 15 per cent vision in his right eye”.
Imran told Safdar that approximately “three to four months earlier, until October 2025, he had normal 6 x 6 vision in both eyes”. He then began experiencing persistent blurred and hazy vision, which he repeatedly reported to the then-jail superintendent but “no action was taken by the jail authorities”.
The report read: “[Imran] stated that he subsequently suffered a sudden and complete loss of vision in his right eye, following which an ophthalmologist from Pims Hospital, Dr Muhammad Arif, was called to examine him.
“According to [Imran], he was diagnosed with a blood clot that caused severe damage, and despite the treatment administered (including an injection), he has been left with only 15 per cent vision in his right eye.”
A day ago, Safdar also denied making any statement on Imran’s health on Tuesday, making it clear that if anything was attributed to him in this regard, it was “misrepresented and misreported”.
On Tuesday, the day he met Imran, Safdar had told reporters that the incarcerated PTI founder was fine and looking healthy.
The SC’s order allowing Safdar to meet Imran came after the bench rejected senior PTI leader Latif Khosa’s request for an immediate meeting, but issued notices to the parties.
More to follow
