The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday directed authorities to arrange a one-hour meeting in jail between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and their lawyers in the £190 million alleged corruption case.
A division bench ordered counsel to start arguments on the related appeals at the next hearing and adjourned the matter for 10 days.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar, and including Justice Muhammad Asif, heard the appeals. The court instructed that paper books for the cases be prepared in advance. It specifically ordered a one-hour jail meeting involving Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, Barrister Salman Safdar and Latif Khosa.
At the start of the hearing, Khosa told the court that an earlier order allowing him to meet Imran had not been carried out. Chief Justice Dogar clarified that the previous directive applied to Safdar, not Khosa.
“You are not the one whose meeting was ordered; the order was for Salman Safdar’s meeting,” the chief justice said.
In a shocking statement following a long-denied prison visit, legal counsel Barrister Salman Safdar revealed alarming details regarding Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi. After blocking legal access for 7 months for Imran Khan and 11 months for Bushra Bibi, authorities finally permitted a brief meeting, exposing severe medical neglect and deliberate judicial delays.
Barrister Safdar disclosed under sworn affidavit that Imran Khan’s blood pressure has repeatedly spiked to critical levels of 160, 170, and 192, putting him at immediate risk of a heart attack or stroke. Meanwhile, Bushra Bibi faces rapid vision loss due to denied medical treatment. With courts continuously stalling hearings and delaying bail, counsel warned that this ongoing neglect carries life-threatening consequences.
@BrSalmanSafdar
#ShiftKhanToHospitalNow
#StopRiskingKhansLife— PTI (@PTIofficial) November 10, 2026
Khosa replied that an order for a meeting already existed but had not been implemented. He stated that his undertaking to argue the appeals was conditional on being allowed to meet Imran.
Che chief justice responded that the matter of Khosa arguing the appeals had already been settled and urged him to begin. He asked Islamabad Advocate General Naveed Malik whether a meeting could be arranged within one or two days.
Lawyers Raise Access Delays and Health Concerns
Safdar also addressed the court about long delays in meeting his clients. He said he had met Imran after seven months and Bushra Bibi after 11 months.
“I felt embarrassed when I met my client after 11 months,” Safdar told the bench.
He added that he had received instructions from both clients to argue their appeals and requested the paper books along with time to prepare. He described the 11-month gap in meeting Bushra Bibi as reflecting a serious lack of trust.
Safdar asked the court to fix appeals against sentences in other cases for hearing and to take up a miscellaneous application. He noted that he had filed an affidavit in the matter—something he said he had never done before—and that he could file a fresh bail application on new grounds but had not yet done so.
He then focused on Bushra Bibi’s health, saying she had been wearing dark glasses and that her eyesight had deteriorated. Jail authorities, according to Safdar, informed him that her next operation was scheduled for November 15.
Pakistan: under a military-backed cabinet, jail staff again barred Imran Khan from family and lawyers a day after a brief counsel visit — the first in 7 months. Isolating a political prisoner flouts fair trial and democracy. Free him. #HumanRights
https://t.co/OrIwCiXBap— International Human Rights Foundation (@IHRF_English) November 6, 2026
He said he did not know who was treating her or where the treatment was taking place. “I am not asking for bail; a medical board should be formed,” he told the court, seeking an independent assessment. Even if she was not entitled to bail, he argued, she could be granted temporary bail for four to six weeks for treatment.
Safdar said women were entitled to concessions in such matters and asked the court to obtain complete medical reports from Adiala Jail. He maintained that proper treatment was not possible in prison and questioned why Bushra Bibi had been returned to her cell on the same day after an earlier operation.
Doctors had performed emergency surgery, he said, and warned that he would regret arguing the appeal if her condition worsened.
“If I argue the appeal and my client becomes blind in jail, I will regret it,” Safdar stated.
He also relayed Imran’s concerns about his own health. According to Safdar, Imran said his blood pressure was not under control and had risen above 190, putting him at risk of a brain haemorrhage.
Safdar added that Imran had said his eyesight had improved. Safdar requested a meeting lasting one to one-and-a-half hours. Another counsel for Imran, Salman Akram Raja, asked the court to allow both lawyers to meet him together.
The chief justice noted that Safdar had already met Imran and observed that permitting lawyers to meet together could lead to requests for larger groups.
Government Response and Court’s Closing Directions
Advocate General Naveed Malik told the court that medical treatment is a fundamental right and that the government was not neglecting its responsibilities. “All medical facilities are being provided,” he said, presenting a record of the treatment given to Bushra Bibi.
He noted that the issue involved not just one prisoner but around 10,000 inmates and referred to records summoned by the Federal Constitutional Court from the Supreme Court in cases involving three prisoners.
Chief Justice Dogar observed that applications concerning Imran’s health were pending before the Federal Constitutional Court. Safdar responded that no case concerning Bushra Bibi was pending before that court.
Imran Khan’s Lawyer Gets Rare Meeting with Jailed Ex-PM, Discusses Health but Offers No Details
A National Accountability Bureau prosecutor asked Safdar to submit an undertaking regarding the proceedings. At the end of the hearing, the court directed that paper books be provided to the lawyers and prepared before the next session. It instructed counsel to begin arguments at the next hearing after the arrangement of Khosa’s meeting with Imran.
Background on Restricted Access
Access to Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi at Adiala Jail has remained limited, with meetings between the PTI founder and his lawyers becoming increasingly infrequent.
Authorities have denied weekly meetings between Imran and his family and legal team since December 2025.
In April 2026, Barrister Salman Safdar met Imran for a 60-minute legal consultation on the Islamabad High Court’s orders, but Bushra Bibi was not brought in to join. Safdar has said Imran and Bushra were being kept in solitary confinement for almost 24 hours a day, with no access to books, television, family or lawyers. Courts later intervened to facilitate access. In June, the Islamabad High Court directed authorities to arrange a meeting between Imran, Bushra Bibi and their legal counsel within seven days to complete legal formalities and pursue their appeals.
The Supreme Court also ordered weekly meetings between Imran and his family in August. Imran’s sister Noreen Niazi met him at Adiala Jail on August 18 after a gap of around nine months; the meeting lasted approximately 15 minutes. Safdar was not allowed to meet both clients again until November 2, when jail authorities facilitated a 40-minute meeting with Imran and Bushra Bibi.
Asim Tanveer is a seasoned journalist working for TV and electronic and print media outlets. He has been working for some of the world’s leading news organizations including Associated Press (AP), Reuters, BBC, CNN, CNBC, Star TV, Voice of America and The New York Times for more than 20 years. He has won several awards for his live coverage of events that include a Reuters News Agency World Award and the Pride of Performance award in 2010.
