Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s lawyer Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry said on Thursday that he would file a contempt of court petition in the Supreme Court (SC) over the government’s failure to comply with a court order regarding his client’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital.

“The government is violating the court order in the matter of Imran’s transfer to the hospital. The government is bound to transfer Imran to the hospital within two days; if the court order is not implemented, we will file a contempt of court petition in the SC. By showing stubbornness, the government is committing contempt of court,” said Chaudhry in a post on X.

On Tuesday, the SC ordered that Imran be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for treatment for the next few days and directed the government to arrange weekly meetings between him and his family. In response, the government filed a review petition before the SC, calling its order “discriminatory in nature”.

Chaudhry said he had gone to Adiala jail to obtain Imran’s signatures on the contempt petition and power of attorney documents.

“We will file a contempt of court petition in any case,” he added.

Earlier in the day, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja claimed that the government had withdrawn its review petition against the SC order for shifting party founder Imran to Shifa International Hospital, demanding immediate implementation of the directive.

“The state has withdrawn its review petition from the SC after objections were placed on it by the SC filing branch. There is no excuse whatsoever for not complying with the SC order of August 18. Imran Khan must be transferred to Shifa International Hospital forthwith. Today is the day,” Raja said in a post on X.

Meanwhile, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah maintained that the review petition had been filed in the Supreme Court and that its hearing was supposed to be held today. When questioned about the petition being returned, he said: “I think it has been refiled.”

He further said that “after the decision there will be further clarity” and that the decision on the petition would come “today or tomorrow”. 

Speaking to the media, Sanaullah said that the government was clear on the fact that there were aspects of the Supreme Court decision on which the government had raised technical objections that could potentially cause a breakdown of the justice system. 

“Thousands of applications can be filed tomorrow, and then the Supreme Court’s decision is binding for the subordinate courts. In that case, will those thousand people also be transferred to private hospitals? The subordinate court has no power to review the decision against the decision of the Supreme Court,” he added.

Sanaullah further stated that in order to redress the situation, the government “has filed a review petition, and once that decision comes, the government is bound by what the law and constitution say and will respect the court’s decision”.

He also said the government was awaiting a reply from the opposition on the offer of more talks.

Separately, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the government had time till 12am to transfer Imran, adding that it was the responsibility of the Islamabad administration and it was working towards it. 

A day earlier, the federal government filed a review petition before the SC, calling its order directing the transfer of incarcerated Imran to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital “discriminatory in nature”.

According to sources, the SC has returned a review petition due to an objection that the required paper books had not been completed along with the review plea.

The sources said the review petition would be filed again after addressing the registrar’s objections, adding that some amendments would also be made to the review petition before it was resubmitted to the SC.

SC orders Imran’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital for treatment

On Tuesday, SC ordered that Imran be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for treatment for the next few days and directed the government to arrange weekly meetings between him and his family.

The hearing came after a medical board report and a report by the Adiala Jail Superintendent submitted to the SC on Monday recommended more frequent meetings between Imran and his immediate family and spouse to help manage his blood pressure and anxiety, highlighting concerns over the former premier’s blood pressure (BP).

A three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed was hearing cases concerning Imran’s access to his sisters and personal physicians, as well as his medical record.

Read: Govt calls SC order to shift Imran to private hospital ‘discriminatory’, files review petition

The court further ordered that Imran’s personal physician, Dr Faisal Sultan, be granted access to him and directed the formation of a medical board comprising an eye specialist, a general physician, and a cardiologist along with Dr Sultan.

His sister, Dr Uzma, will also be associated with the newly established medical board, according to the order. The SC directed that Imran’s family bear the cost of his treatment at the hospital.

The court also instructed Imran’s family and lawyers not to share his medical report with the media, with Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan ordering that the report be kept completely confidential.

“We assure the court that the medical report will remain completely confidential,” Raja said. The court further directed that no political activity, media talks or press conferences be held outside the hospital.

“Do not engage in politics outside the hospital,” Justice Afghan said. “There are other patients in the hospital,” he added, stressing that other patients should not be affected.

Raja and PTI Parliamentary Secretary Shahid Khattak assured the court that no political activity would take place outside the hospital. “Our political activities will remain completely separate,” Raja said.

Read: Medical board urges concessions for Imran

The court also directed that arrangements be made for Imran to have telephone conversations with his children.

The SC ordered that Imran’s medical reports not be used for political purposes. The court warned that the order could be withdrawn if its directives were violated, while allowing the government and other parties to approach the court if they believed the orders were not being implemented.