ISLAMABAD: Whether described as a political concession or a confidence-building measure, what the PTI and its founder Imran Khan got from the Supreme Court on Tuesday was not something that suddenly emerged yesterday (Tuesday).
The possibility of allowing Imran access to a private hospital for treatment, facilitating meetings with his sisters and family, and putting in place conditions to ensure that such meetings did not turn into political or media activity had already been under discussion between PTI representatives and the authorities concerned for several months.
The Supreme Court has now given a judicial framework to issues that had been part of those discussions. More importantly, the development should not be compared with the 2019 episode involving former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, when he was ultimately allowed to leave Pakistan for medical treatment in London.
Imran has not been permitted to go abroad. The Supreme Court has ordered his transfer, under security, to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, with a medical board to oversee his treatment and his personal physician and sister to have access to him.
The order is therefore about treatment within Pakistan and controlled family access, rather than sending an incarcerated political leader abroad.
The issues had been on the table for months. Reporting of The News provides a timeline showing that Tuesday’s development was preceded by months of discussions and disagreements over precisely these issues.
The most revealing report was published in May 2026, under the headline “Naqvi-Gohar-Sohail secret meeting focused on Imran access, political de-escalation.”
According to The News report, the meeting involving Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi discussed improving access for Imran’s family and PTI leaders, besides medical and humanitarian matters.
But the report contained another significant detail. While quoting a source, the report said, Aleema Khan’s social-media statement had seriously jeopardised the possibility of allowing Imran’s sisters to meet him.
In another story, the same month, The News reported — “Relief for Bushra family after assurances of no politics” — which said efforts were being made to facilitate family meetings, while assurances concerning no political activity and no public statements about such meetings were part of the discussions.
Thus, the question of permitting Imran’s sisters to meet him had already been under consideration long before Tuesday’s Supreme Court order.
On May 21, The News reported, “Another potentially significant gesture, authorities are considering facilitating meetings between Imran Khan and one of his sisters, Noreen Khanum, whose access to him has been restricted in recent months. Similarly, sources indicated that Bushra Bibi’s daughters may be permitted to meet their mother in the coming days.”
Family access, therefore, was not an issue suddenly discovered by the Supreme Court today. It had already become part of the PTI-authorities backchannel.
February reports explain the underlying dispute. On February 14, The News reported under the heading “Uncertainty surrounds Imran’s next move amid deal speculation” that Imran had been denied meetings with family members, PTI leaders and lawyers because meetings had allegedly been used to relay political messages which were subsequently disseminated through the media or social media.
The report said relatives who were permitted to meet Bushra Bibi were expected to avoid political discussion and refrain from speaking to the media afterward.
On February 7, The News report — “Bushra, family meeting allowed under strict ‘no politics’ condition” — described the authorities’ insistence that family meetings should not be used for political discussion or the transmission of political messages.
The Tuesday’s Supreme Court order also contains the no-politics/no-media condition.
The medical issue was also not new. The demand for treatment at a private hospital had likewise been pursued for months.
On March 1, The News story — “What the CJP told the PTI chairman” — said that the PTI had sought Imran’s transfer to a hospital of its choice in Islamabad, along with access for his personal doctors.
The matter subsequently reached the Supreme Court, with Imran and his sister Dr Uzma seeking his transfer to Shifa International Hospital and access to his own physicians. The medical issue consequently developed alongside the family-access dispute rather than suddenly appearing as part of Tuesday’s proceedings.
The political interpretation of Tuesday’s order is likely to generate considerable debate, particularly because PTI and the authorities have had backchannel contacts.
While people have started speculating about possible deal, the facts remains that the issues were already being discussed before the Supreme Court order.
The authorities had been considering family access, PTI had been pressing for it, the medical question had been pursued through legal and political channels and the question of assurances against political statements had already emerged during the backchannel process.
Meanwhile sources said Imran is not being sent abroad. He remains within Pakistan, under the custody and security arrangements applicable to his imprisonment, and has been ordered to receive treatment at a private hospital in Islamabad.
His family members may meet him, but the Supreme Court has attached explicit conditions designed to prevent the hospital from becoming a venue for political activity or media mobilisation.
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