Dr Uzma Khan, the sister of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan, has gone back to the Supreme Court for the third time to ask for a quick hearing of her contempt plea against the federal government. Her application, filed on Tuesday through lawyer Uzair Karamat Bhandari, asks the court to fix the case for next week. It is based on reports that Mr Khan’s blood pressure rose to about 192.
What the contempt plea says
The plea, filed on August 22, accuses the government of ignoring an order of the Supreme Court. On August 18 a three-member bench told the government to shift Imran Khan to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital (SIH) within two days, while it heard several petitions on his health. The plea says the government instead took him to Pims, a state-run hospital, for a check-up and sent him back to prison.
The contempt plea names Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Islamabad chief commissioner, the interior secretary, Punjab’s inspector general of prisons and the Adiala jail superintendent as respondents. It also asked for weekly meetings between Mr Khan and family members, among them his sisters Noreen Niazi and Aleema Khan and cousin Qasim Zaman, and for twice-weekly phone calls with his sons Kasim and Sulaiman.
Why she is asking again
The court’s registrar’s office turned down Dr Uzma’s first two requests for an early date. In both refusals it said the fixation policy requires cases to be heard in turn, and noted that 94 criminal original petitions of the same type were already waiting. The second request came after the main petition had been listed for September 16.
The new application argues the situation is more urgent because of reports that Mr Khan’s blood pressure recently reached 192, and says “serious concerns” exist about his health. If an early hearing is refused, it says, the rights of both Dr Uzma and Mr Khan to health, medical advice and access to family will continue to be harmed. The PTI said earlier this month that his blood pressure had climbed above 190, as we reported when the party’s core committee raised the issue. We have not seen an official medical bulletin confirming the figure.
The court dispute behind the delay
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| August 18 | Supreme Court bench orders his shift to SIH within two days |
| August 22 | Contempt plea filed |
| September 16 | Supreme Court defers the main petition after the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) directs that similar cases be fixed before it |
| Since then | The Supreme Court said it would resume after about three weeks, but no new date has been set |
| November 10 | Third request for early hearing filed |
On September 16 the Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Shahid Waheed with Justices Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Ishtiaq Ibrahim, voiced reservations about the FCC’s directive. It observed that fixing before the FCC cases requisitioned from the Supreme Court did not fall under clause 5 of Article 175-E. Even so, it deferred its own proceedings, saying propriety required it.
The FCC acted on a plea by three Adiala jail inmates who sought relief like that given to Mr Khan on August 18. Article 175-E, added by the 27th Constitutional Amendment, lets the FCC call for the record of any case and decide matters involving major questions of constitutional law.
Why it matters
The dispute is no longer only about one prisoner’s health. It is also about which court decides such cases and how quickly. For the family and the PTI, delay is itself the grievance. For the court, the registrar’s turn-wise rule and the FCC’s directive are the obstacles. The government’s position on the contempt plea has not been included in this account, and it has not been reported to have responded to the new application.
The question the application leaves open is plain: if the main petition on his health is still waiting for a date, what route is there to an early ruling on the contempt of the August order?
What to watch
- Whether the registrar accepts or rejects the third request.
- Whether the Supreme Court bench fixes a date for the main petition on his health.
- Any official medical statement on his blood pressure from the jail or the health authorities.
- The Islamabad High Court’s next steps in his appeals, which are being heard separately.
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