Federal Government Files Review Petition in Supreme Court Against PTI Founder’s Hospital Transfer
ISLAMABAD: The Federal government has moved the Supreme Court of Pakistan for a review of the said order in relation to the transfer of the PTI founder to hospital. The petition, filed on the behalf of the Chief Commissioner Islamabad by the Advocate General Islamabad, states that while the apex court had issued an interim order on August 18 directing the hospitalisation of PTI founder in Shifa International Hospital, it has gone beyond its jurisdiction and should be reviewed.
According to the petition, the Additional Sessions Judge gave sentence of three years imprisonment to the PTI’s founder on August 5, 2023, which was appealed in Islamabad High Court. During the proceedings, the founder of the PTI had filed a petition for transfer to Shifa International Hospital for medical treatment under Section 561-A of the Criminal Procedure Code which was rejected by the Islamabad High Court on March 12, 2026, prompting an appeal in the Supreme Court.
The Federal Government’s position and references provided by other laws.
The federal government argued in the review petition that in some cases it must be approved to transfer a prisoner out of the jail and go through the Inspector of Prisons, and that the police must monitor a prisoner in a hospital as well.
According to Rule 197 of Pakistan Prison Rules 1978 the mode of transferring a prisoner to an external hospital is well laid out by law. The government said that Article 10-A of the Constitution provides for the right to fair trial, and this issue was settled now for the first time before the Supreme Court without any formal notifications being given to the concerned parties.
It also added that the medical tests of the founder of the PTI have been carried out regularly in the past and he has been treated by a medical board several times. The federal government has asked the Supreme Court to review the interim order of August 18, and set aside the instructions regarding the transfer of the PTI founder to Shifa International Hospital.