Imran Khan Back in Jail After Health Check at PIMS

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Imran Khan Sent to PIMS Instead of Shifa Over Security Fears, Back in Jail After Being Found Healthy

The Pakistan Times — Islamabad, August 21, 2026

Imran Khan spent part of Thursday night away from Adiala Jail for a medical check-up, but not at the hospital everyone was expecting. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the former prime minister was actually taken to PIMS instead of Shifa International Hospital, because of the crowd and security problems building up around Shifa on the roads leading to it.

Here's some quick background for anyone who missed the earlier part of this story. Earlier this week, Pakistan's Supreme Court had ordered the government to move Khan from jail to Shifa International Hospital within two days so doctors could give him a full medical check-up. The government wasn't happy with that order and filed a review petition, arguing it wasn't fair to let one prisoner pick a specific private hospital when other prisoners don't get that choice. Even with that legal pushback going on in the background, the government still moved Khan out of jail late Thursday night, right around the deadline the court had set.

Now here's where it gets a bit confusing, and Tarar's own statements changed slightly as the night went on. He first posted that Khan had simply been taken to hospital under proper security, without naming which one. A little later he added more detail, saying Khan was actually taken to PIMS, the government-run hospital, not Shifa, and explained the reason was the security situation PTI workers had created around Shifa and along the roads leading to it. He said doctors from Shifa were brought in to be part of the examination too, so it wasn't like the court's order was being completely ignored, just handled differently on the ground.

According to Tarar, a full team of doctors, including an eye specialist, a heart specialist, and a general physician, examined Khan closely and said he was medically fit. His sister, Uzma Khan, was there the whole time during the check-up. Once everything was done, Khan was sent back to Adiala Jail at around 5am on Friday morning.

This isn't the first time Khan's health has become a headline in Pakistan. Back in January, he had an eye problem called central retinal vein occlusion, which can seriously affect vision if it's not treated properly, and he's had a few follow-up procedures for that at PIMS since then. Every single time something like this happens, it turns into a bigger political story than just a medical update, with PTI accusing the government of hiding things or delaying treatment, and the government accusing PTI of turning ordinary health matters into a political show.

Reading between the lines here, this latest episode looks like the government trying to walk a careful line. They followed the spirit of the court's order by getting Khan examined by qualified doctors, including some from the hospital the court actually named, but they picked a different, more secure location to actually do it in. Whether PTI accepts that explanation or sees it as the government quietly dodging the court's exact instructions is probably going to be the next thing worth watching in this ongoing back and forth.

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Sources: Al Jazeera, 

The Pakistan Times. All rights reserved.

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