Imran Khan left with 15% vision, Top Court orders medical review

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered authorities to set up a medical board to examine jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s eyes following a report about vision loss in one of them. The apex court also ordered authorities to allow the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder to speak with his children. Hearing a case about the living conditions of the 73-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician, a two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan on Thursday ordered his detailed check-up before 16th February. Imran Khan has been in jail since August 5, 2023, when he was arrested at his Lahore residence after his conviction in a corruption case. Currently, he is incarcerated at the high-security Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.
Earlier,a court-appointed lawyer has claimed that jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been left with just 15 percent vision in his right eye after authorities allegedly ignored his complaints for three months, adding another layer of contention over his imprisonment. Barrister Salman Safdar, appointed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) as amicus curiae (friend of the court), conducted a two-hour interview with Khan on February 10 and inspected his detention facility before submitting a detailed seven-page report to the court on Wednesday.Despite repeated complaints of persistent blurred and hazy vision, the report states that “no action was taken by the jail authorities to address these complaints”. “He stated that he subsequently suffered a sudden and complete loss of vision in his right eye,” Safdar wrote.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party founded by Khan, expressed “profound concern” in a statement on Thursday and strongly condemned the treatment meted out to him, “particularly with regard to the serious deterioration of his eyesight”. The party said it reserves the right to initiate legal proceedings against relevant officials over his declining health, warning that “any harm inflicted upon Imran Khan’s health will be accounted for”.