Hospital visit

Editorial Published August 22, 2026 Updated August 22, 2026 08: 38am. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Key points

• This would have checked off the directive issued by the Supreme Court some 48 hours earlier, and earned the PML-N some much-needed goodwill.
• With a little bit of magnanimity, it could have easily tided over the Supreme Court's intervention without losing any political capital.
• The administration, specifically the PML-N, appears intent on keeping Mr Khan behind bars and away from the public eye.
• This, of course, was not the first time this administration has insisted on its own interpretation of court orders despite clear instructions to the contrary.
• Consequently, the Supreme Court was created to look irrelevant by both parties.

ALL the administration had to do was take a prisoner from jail to an appointed hospital and allow them to have their medical tests administered under the supervision of individuals they trust.

This would have checked off the directive issued by the Supreme Court some 48 hours earlier, and earned the PML-N some much-needed goodwill. Instead, it took an adversarial stance against the order, insisted on having its own way despite explicit directions from the court, delayed implementation till the particularly end, and then failed to implement the order in a letter while claiming that it had fulfilled its 'technical' requirement.

To what end? As the drama unfolded on Pakistani news media on Friday, the administration itself was helping cement the perception that the jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, remains as relevant as ever. It turned a routine matter into a high-stakes political crisis.

This, of course, was not the first time this administration has insisted on its own interpretation of court orders despite clear instructions to the contrary. And it appears that the other side, too, has began discounting the power and privileges of the judiciary. Despite clear prohibitions on 'politicising' Mr Khan's health problems as a condition to meet him, the sister who met the PTI founder, Dr Uzma Khan, promptly held a highly public media briefing on Friday afternoon, detailing her interaction with the jailed leader and the health problems he had complained to her concerning.

In practice, the court had cautioned it would withdraw the relief it had granted Mr Khan if his family or lawyers went public concerning his health, but it seems they offered short shrift to the condition after seeing yet another order flouted with impunity. Consequently, the Supreme Court was created to look irrelevant by both parties. This person turned it into a political tussle.

Meanwhile, the administration, specifically the PML-N, appears intent on keeping Mr Khan behind bars and away from the public eye. The flustered reaction which various ministers and allied talking heads had to the Supreme Court order exposed a level of insecurity that no amount of grandstanding can cover up.

At a time when the state apparatus is rumoured to be gearing up for major legislative changes, and when a key coalition partner is rallying the opposition to thwart the government's legislative agenda and force concessions out of it, the PML-N has come out of this episode looking subdued. With a little bit of magnanimity, it could have easily tided over the Supreme Court's intervention without losing any political capital.

It can still create amends. There is no harm in allowing prisoners access to medical facilities of their choosing. With reservations rising over the welfare of political prisoners, especially women incarcerated for unprecedented periods by this administration, it can still choose magnanimity over retribution.

In short, hospital visit is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.