Sharjeel Memon, Muhammad Zubair urge govt to implement SC order on Imran Khan’s hospital transfer | The Express Tribune

Political leaders have urged the government to immediately implement the Supreme Court’s (SC) order regarding the transfer of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan to a hospital for medical treatment.

Earlier in the day, Imran’s lawyer Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry said that he would file a contempt of court petition in the SC over the government’s failure to comply with a court order regarding his client’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital.

On Tuesday, the SC ordered that Imran be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for treatment for the next few days and directed the government to arrange weekly meetings between him and his family. In response, the government filed a review petition before the SC, calling its order “discriminatory in nature”.

Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, in a post on X, said that on humanitarian and medical grounds, the government should have taken immediate steps to move Imran to a hospital for proper medical care.

Instead, he said, challenging the court’s order through an appeal was “deeply disappointing” and, in his view, a “grave mistake”. “Human life and health must come before political considerations,” he said on X.

Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP) senior member Muhammad Zubair Umar, in a separate post on X, said 48 hours had lapsed, and the government must now act on the SC decision and move Imran to the hospital without delay.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shafi Jan, also in a post on X, said the government’s review appeal against the SC decision was a delaying tactic in providing medical facilities to Imran.

“Providing medical treatment to Imran is his constitutional, legal, and fundamental right,” Jan said on X, adding that anyone who became an obstacle to obtaining this right would have to answer for it.

He urged the government to refrain from “negative politics” on the matter and said there should be no delay in implementing the SC orders.

He further said PTI had adopted a legal route for Imran’s transfer to the hospital and called for his immediate transfer while ensuring the supremacy of the Constitution and the law.

PTI to file contempt petition over delay in Imran’s hospital transfer

Imran’s lawyer Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry said that he would file a contempt of court petition in the SC over the government’s failure to comply with a court order regarding his client’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital.

“The government is violating the court order in the matter of Imran’s transfer to the hospital. The government is bound to transfer Imran to the hospital within two days; if the court order is not implemented, we will file a contempt of court petition in the SC. By showing stubbornness, the government is committing contempt of court,” said Chaudhry in a post on X on Thursday.

Raja claims govt has withdrawn review petition after SC objection

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja claimed that the government had withdrawn its review petition against the SC order for shifting party founder Imran to Shifa International Hospital, demanding immediate implementation of the directive.

“The state has withdrawn its review petition from the SC after objections were placed on it by the SC filing branch. There is no excuse whatsoever for not complying with the SC order of August 18.

Imran must be transferred to Shifa International Hospital forthwith. Today is the day,” Raja said in a post on X on Thursday.

A day earlier, the federal government filed a review petition before the SC, calling its order directing the transfer of incarcerated Imran to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital “discriminatory in nature”.

According to sources, the SC has returned a review petition due to an objection that the required paper books had not been completed along with the review plea.

The sources said the review petition would be filed again after addressing the registrar’s objections, adding that some amendments would also be made to the review petition before it was resubmitted to the SC.