By Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Pakistan's government will challenge a Supreme Court decision that ordered authorities to move jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to a private hospital, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said in a video statement.
The move could dash the hopes of Khan's party and family, who have been calling for him to be given access to healthcare and visitation rights, and also spark public discontent over the treatment of the hugely popular cricketer-turned-politician.
Khan, 73, has been in jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi since August 2023, convicted in a string of cases that he says were politically driven after he fell out with the country's powerful military and was removed from office the previous year.
The court's order on Tuesday, seen by Reuters, directed the government to move Khan to the private Shifa International Hospital in the capital Islamabad within two days and that he be given access to his personal physician.
"This order is not within four walls of the law," Pakistan's Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said in a video-recorded statement issued on Tuesday night.
He said the authorities had deliberated the ruling and decided that the court should be approached for a review of the decision.
A convicted prisoner has to be treated either inside the jail or at a public hospital according to law, he said, adding that a review appeal will seek a modification of the court order.
Khan's sons repeatedly expressed concern regarding his deteriorating health last year, with his lawyers saying he had lost significant vision in his right eye while in prison.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has welcomed the order, saying it should be implemented “immediately, fully, and without delay”.
ALL THAT MATTERED
The court order also directed the authorities to ensure a telephone call twice a week between Khan and his two sons, who live in London.
His younger son, Kasim, said his health was "all that mattered".
"We hope the government adheres to the court orders...allows calls and issues our visas to Pakistan simply so we can come and see him," he said in a statement shared with Reuters.
Kasim and his older brother Sulaiman — raised in Britain after Khan's divorce from their mother, British socialite and filmmaker Jemima Goldsmith — have not seen their father since 2022 in the absence of a visa.
Since he lost power in a parliamentary no-confidence vote, Khan has faced multiple cases, including over state gifts, instigating violent attacks on military and state installations, and an accusation of an unlawful marriage.
All convictions but one have been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending. He denies wrongdoing.
PTI won power in 2018 and retains a large support base across key provinces but was stripped of its election symbol ahead of elections in 2024.
Its candidates, who were forced to contest as independents, won the most seats in the election but fell short of the majority needed to form a government.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Rick Noack and Saad Sayeed)
