{
  "id": 2599070,
  "title": "Islamabad chief commissioner seeks early hearing of review petition against order to shift Imran to private hospital",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/22/islamabad-chief-commissioner-seeks-early-hearing-of-review-petition-2599070",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-22T15:23:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn - Pakistan",
    "slug": "dawn-pakistan",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2024588/islamabad-chief-commissioner-seeks-early-hearing-of-review-petition-against-order-to-shift-imran-to-private-hospital"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Islamabad chief commissioner has petitioned the Supreme Court to expedite the review of the government's order to relocate jailed PTI founder Imran Khan to a private hospital. This request was made in response to a recent decision by the court on August 18, which mandated Imran's transfer to Shifa International Hospital within two days. The chief commissioner argued that the initial order affected the government's constitutional authority.\n\nThe Supreme Court, in a three-judge bench led by Justice Shahid Waheed, initially directed the transfer of Imran from prison to the private hospital on August 18. However, the federal government subsequently filed a review petition, which the court Registrar's Office returned with objections due to improper drafting of the affidavit and other documents. The Registrar Office stated that the petition must be resubmitted within two weeks after the objections are addressed.\n\nIn its review petition, the government argued that the August 18 judgment contained a fundamental procedural defect, as the prescribed process for moving a convict to a hospital for treatment had been overlooked. This, according to the review petition, makes the order reviewable. The petition further contended that the order was discriminatory, as it allowed Imran to receive private hospital treatment while other similarly situated convicts were not afforded the same opportunity.\n\nThe review petition also highlighted that Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees the right to equal treatment and abhors discrimination. The petition argued that if the interim order is not recalled, it could lead to a flood of prisoners seeking similar relief, which cannot be granted under the current laws. The petition cited Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978, which state that inmates' lives and affairs are strictly regulated to ensure their safety and well-being. The petition contended that the Aug 18 order violated these rules by allowing Imran to be treated in a private hospital, as it opened the inmate to various external variables.\n\nThe review petition further argued that the inherent power conferred by Section 561-A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is limited to preventing abuse of the process of any subordinate court and does not extend to bypassing regular remedies provided by the Prisons Act, 1894, the Prisoners’ Act, 1900, and the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978. The petition maintained that a court with criminal jurisdiction cannot grant relief such as transfer to a private hospital, medical board constitution, or ancillary directions related to the transfer, as these are not within the appellate court's powers.",
  "summary": "ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad chief commissioner on Saturday approached the Supreme Court (SC), seeking an early hearing of the government’s review petition challenging the SC’s Aug 18 order to shift incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital. The application requested the SC to fix the review petition for hearing at the earliest. The chief commissioner argued that the Aug 18…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Al Jazeera",
        "title": "Pakistan’s PTI seeks contempt action over jailed Imran Khan’s hospital move",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/22/pakistans-pti-seeks-contempt-action-over-jailed-imran-khans-hospital",
        "published": "2026-08-22T10:13:48.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Dawn",
        "title": "Islamabad chief commissioner seeks early hearing of review petition against order to shift Imran to private hospital",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/22/islamabad-chief-commissioner-seeks-early-hearing-of-review-petition",
        "published": "2026-08-22T15:23:40.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}