ISLAMABAD: Aleema Khan, the sister of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, launched a sharp critique on Wednesday of both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership and judiciary over the handling of her brother’s medical treatment and delays in the hearing of his legal cases. Speaking at a presser along with her sisters and Khan’s counsel Salman Safdar, Aleema stressed that the family’s foremost concern was Khan’s health and insisted that no medical decisions regarding him should be made without the family’s consent. He remarks followed a statement by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on February 17, in which Naqvi claimed that Khan had received medical treatment, though the senior PTI leadership had failed to provide any details about the nature of the treatment. “Why doesn’t anyone deny or confirm what treatment was carried out,” she asked, expressing frustration with the lack of transparency. She further accused the party of disregarding the family’s recommendations for medical experts, including Dr Asim, Dr Uzma Khan, and Dr Barki, who had been proposed for treatment at Shifa International Hospital. She said that their proposals were either ignored or met with no response, before learning that treatment had taken place at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), with the family kept in the dark. “We were demanding treatment at Shifa International Hospital. Instead, we were sent to jail when we raised the issue,” she added. She also alleged that government doctors were being pressured, and stated that the family would no longer address concerns in private meetings but would instead raise them publicly. She voiced dissatisfaction with senior PTI lawyers and office-bearers, naming leaders such as Hamid Khan, Ali Zafar, Latif Khosa, and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan (chairman), questioning why they had not been more proactive in pursuing Khan’s legal cases. “Where are the senior lawyers who were given party tickets? Imran Khan repeatedly asked them to get his cases filed,” she said. The frustration also extended to the judicial process, with Aleema condemning delays in the hearing of her brother’s cases. She pointed out that Khan had been attending court for the past 13 months in an attempt to pursue his cases, but claimed obstacles were consistently placed in his path. She questioned the commitment of the judiciary to providing timely justice, comparing the country’s courts unfavourably to those in other countries. Separately, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja claimed that court orders regarding meetings with Imran Khan were being ignored. He said that the IHC had ordered two weekly meetings – one for lawyers and one for family members – but these had not been facilitated. He also alleged that contempt petitions filed over non-compliance were being dismissed and that medical requests for Khan had been neglected. Raja expressed his intention to approach the Supreme Court if no relief was provided. In a related development, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi spoke to reporters, saying he had tried to address Chief Justice Dogar in open court but was not given a hearing. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026