The Supreme Court’s recent intervention on Imran Khan’s health and family access has offered limited relief but has not changed the convictions keeping him incarcerated
BY PC Bureau
August 19, 2026 — Imran Khan’s prolonged imprisonment has become one of Pakistan’s most contentious political and legal battles, with a string of convictions keeping the former prime minister behind bars while his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party continues to describe the cases as politically driven.
Khan, 73, met his sister Noreen Niazi at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail on August 18 for the first time this year after Pakistan’s Supreme Court restored limited weekly family meetings amid concerns over his health. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes and was followed by a separate meeting with his wife, Bushra Bibi.
The Supreme Court has also directed that Khan be moved to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for a medical assessment, underscoring the growing judicial concern over his health and prison conditions.
But the court’s intervention has not changed the legal circumstances that have kept Khan incarcerated since his second arrest in August 2023.
All of this happened because of his sisters hand on heart the way Imran Khan’s sisters have fought for their brother is truly one for the books! pic.twitter.com/44O1EfGnxA
— AS🩷 (@AS_Resists) August 18, 2026
The Al-Qadir Trust case
The most consequential conviction against Khan stems from the Al-Qadir Trust case, also known as the £190 million or land case.
In January 2025, an accountability court sentenced Khan to 14 years in prison and Bushra Bibi to seven years. The prosecution alleged that the couple received land and other benefits from property tycoon Malik Riaz in return for facilitating matters connected with the settlement of funds repatriated from Britain.
The case centres on approximately £190 million recovered by Britain’s National Crime Agency from assets linked to Riaz and returned to Pakistan. Prosecutors alleged that instead of the money being fully credited to the national treasury, the arrangement enabled the settlement of liabilities involving Bahria Town while Khan and Bushra benefited through land transferred to the trust associated with their planned university.
Khan and Bushra have denied wrongdoing, while their lawyers have challenged the conviction. Appeals remain pending.
The case is widely regarded as the principal sentence underpinning Khan’s continued imprisonment.
The Toshakhana-II case
A second major conviction concerns Toshakhana, the state repository for gifts received by Pakistani officials.
In December 2025, a special court sentenced Khan and Bushra Bibi to 17 years each in the Toshakhana-II case, along with fines.
The case concerns a Bulgari jewellery set presented to Khan by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during Khan’s tenure as prime minister. Prosecutors alleged that the jewellery was undervalued and retained by the couple at a fraction of its actual worth.
Khan and Bushra have contested the allegations and appealed against the convictions.
The Toshakhana-II sentence has further complicated Khan’s prospects of release, with the punishment being treated as consecutive to his earlier sentence in the Al-Qadir case.
Earlier convictions overturned or suspended
Khan’s imprisonment has also been shaped by cases in which courts subsequently provided relief.
His first Toshakhana conviction, involving the sale or undervaluation of state gifts, resulted in a prison sentence that was later suspended.
He was also sentenced to 10 years in the cipher case over allegations that he mishandled or disclosed a classified diplomatic cable. The conviction was subsequently overturned.
A separate seven-year sentence in the iddat case, involving allegations that Khan and Bushra violated the Islamic waiting period following her earlier divorce, was also overturned on appeal.
Khan continues to face proceedings arising from the violence that followed his arrest in May 2023, including anti-terrorism cases. Some PTI supporters have also been convicted in military courts over the unrest.
Why Khan and PTI call the cases political
Khan and his supporters have consistently rejected the allegations and accused Pakistan’s political and military establishment of using the criminal justice system to keep him out of electoral politics.
Their argument is rooted in the extraordinary number of cases filed against the former prime minister and the sequence in which they have been pursued.
PTI maintains that Khan’s popularity makes him a formidable political threat and that imprisonment is intended to prevent his return to electoral politics.
The government and prosecution authorities reject the allegations of political persecution, maintaining that Khan is being held on the basis of judicial convictions and that the cases concern corruption, misuse of authority and violations of the law.
READ: Pakistan SC Orders Private Hospital Care for Imran Khan
A battle extending beyond the courtroom
Khan’s imprisonment has become inseparable from Pakistan’s broader political confrontation between PTI and the establishment.
He was removed as prime minister in April 2022 after losing a parliamentary no-confidence vote. His first arrest in May 2023 triggered violent nationwide protests and marked a dramatic escalation in his confrontation with the country’s military establishment.
After his second arrest in August 2023, Khan remained largely confined to prison as successive legal cases were filed, tried and appealed.
PTI-backed candidates performed strongly in the 2024 general election despite the party facing restrictions, demonstrating that Khan retained a substantial political base even while imprisoned.
Critics of the proceedings have raised concerns about restrictions on access to lawyers and family members, trials conducted in jail and the conditions of his detention. International rights organisations have also questioned aspects of his treatment.
The government, however, maintains that the judiciary and accountability institutions are operating within the law.
Health becomes a new flashpoint
Health concerns have added another dimension to the dispute.
Khan’s family and party have repeatedly alleged inadequate access to medical care and have raised concerns over his eyesight and other health problems. Authorities have disputed some of the more serious claims and have cited medical assessments indicating that he remains stable.
The Supreme Court’s recent intervention, restoring limited family access and ordering a medical assessment at a private hospital, represents a judicial response to those concerns.
Yet the order does not erase the convictions keeping Khan in prison.
For now, the former cricket captain remains at the centre of Pakistan’s political crisis from behind prison walls. His supporters see his imprisonment as a campaign of political vengeance designed to silence the country’s most powerful opposition leader. Authorities insist it is the consequence of accountability proceedings.
The continuing appeals, fresh legal proceedings and Khan’s health concerns mean his imprisonment remains both a judicial battle and a defining political issue for Pakistan.
At its core, the dispute raises a question that extends beyond Khan himself: is Pakistan witnessing the prosecution of a powerful politician for alleged wrongdoing, or the use of the legal system to prevent a powerful political rival from returning to power?
The answer remains fiercely contested — and may ultimately be decided not only in Pakistan’s courts, but also at the ballot box.
