Justice Yahya Afridi. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court has returned a miscellaneous application seeking transfer of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from Adiala Prison to Shifa International Hospital due to his deteriorating health condition, after raising objections.
The registrar’s office pointed out that in its order dated February 12, the SC had clearly directed the petitioner to seek appropriate relief from the Islamabad High Court (IHC). He noted that the Toshakhana criminal case involving the PTI founder is already pending in the High Court.
The objections further stated that the miscellaneous application was not filed through an attorney of record, as required by the 2025 Supreme Court Rules. Applications filed without an attorney of record are not admissible. As a result, the plea was returned.
Earlier on Friday, PTI lawyers, including Latif Khosa and Naeem Panjutha, appeared before a court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and requested that their application for transfer of Imran from Adiala jail to hospital be fixed for hearing.
The CJP noted that no such application was pending before the court as the SC registrar had returned it with objections a day earlier. He pointed out that no application was available on record on which the court could proceed.
Latif Khosa argued that an application for early hearing was also filed and contended that the court had issued directions regarding Imran’s medical treatment.
Justice Afridi, however, clarified that the court had not made any such order; the government had instead given an assurance regarding the former prime minister’s medical care.
He advised lawyers to carefully read the previous order, reiterating that the health issue was not pending before the Supreme Court.
Khosa stressed that the request for transfer to the hospital was based on humanitarian rather than political or legal reasons. The CJP responded that a medical examination had already been carried out for humanitarian reasons.
During the exchange, when Latif Khosa urged the court “to try to understand his point of view”, Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, a member of the bench, noted that he had known Khosa since 1992 and fully understood both his arguments and the platform from which he spoke.
Concluding the proceedings, the CJP advised the senior counsel to meet the SC Registrar regarding the objections and said that if a copy of the objections was not provided, then they could approach the court.
According to sources, CJP Yahya Afridi made it clear to PTI that the Supreme Court no longer has jurisdiction over the matter of shifting Imran Khan to a hospital. He advised party president Gohar Ali Khan to contact the IHC in this regard.
Gohar met the CJP at the Supreme Court on Friday regarding the issue of transfer of the PTI founder from Adiala jail to Shifa International Hospital due to his deteriorating health.
During the meeting, the CJP reportedly told him that the relief the SC could grant to the jailed politician had already been extended. He further clarified that taking knowledge on his own initiative was not part of the current scope of action.
