Dr Uzma Khan, the sister of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, has returned to the Supreme Court for the third time seeking an early hearing of a contempt case accusing the government of defying an order to move him to a private hospital.

Her lawyer, Uzair Karamat Bhandari, filed the application on Tuesday under Order XXXV of the Supreme Court Rules, 2025, asking the court to list the petition next week.

The August order and what happened instead

On 18 August, a three-member bench directed the government to move Khan to Shifa International Hospital within two days. Instead, he was taken overnight to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and driven back to Adiala jail.

The government said doctors had declared him medically fit and cited security concerns, and filed a review petition the next day. Dr Uzma Khan filed the contempt petition on 22 August, naming senior officials.

Why the case has stalled

The registrar rejected her first two requests, saying cases must be heard in turn and 94 petitions of the same category were already waiting. A 16 September hearing produced no ruling on the contempt claim, after the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) summoned the Supreme Court's records under Article 175-E, added by the 27th Amendment.

The bench, led by Justice Shahid Waheed, questioned whether the FCC could requisition pending cases, sought the Attorney General's assistance and adjourned for three weeks. Nearly eight weeks on, no date has been fixed. The application cites media reports putting Khan's blood pressure at 192 — a figure his lawyer has distanced himself from — while the PTI calls the reports alarming and the government says treatment is being provided at Adiala. Read more from Independent Pakistan and Native World News.