ALL the government had to do was take a prisoner from jail to an appointed hospital and allow them to have their medical tests administered under the supervision of individuals they trust.

This would have checked off the directive issued by the Supreme Court some 48 hours earlier, and earned the PML-N some much-needed goodwill. Instead, it took an adversarial stance against the order, insisted on having its own way despite explicit directions from the court, delayed implementation till the very end, and then failed to implement the order in a letter while claiming that it had fulfilled its ‘technical’ requirement.

To what end? As the drama unfolded on Pakistani news media on Friday, the government itself was helping cement the perception that the jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, remains as relevant as ever. It turned a routine matter into a high-stakes political crisis.

This, of course, was not the first time this government has insisted on its own interpretation of court orders despite clear instructions to the contrary. And it appears that the other side, too, has started discounting the power and privileges of the judiciary. Despite clear prohibitions on ‘politicising’ Mr Khan’s health issues as a condition to meet him, the sister who met the PTI founder, Dr Uzma Khan, promptly held a very public media briefing on Friday afternoon, detailing her interaction with the jailed leader and the health issues he had complained to her about.

The court had warned it would withdraw the relief it had granted Mr Khan if his family or lawyers went public about his health, but it seems they gave short shrift to the condition after seeing yet another order flouted with impunity. As a result, the Supreme Court was made to look irrelevant by both parties, who turned it into a political tussle.

The government, specifically the PML-N, appears intent on keeping Mr Khan behind bars and away from the public eye. The flustered reaction which various ministers and allied talking heads had to the Supreme Court order exposed a level of insecurity that no amount of grandstanding can cover up.

At a time when the state apparatus is rumoured to be gearing up for major legislative changes, and when a key coalition partner is rallying the opposition to thwart the government’s legislative agenda and force concessions out of it, the PML-N has come out of this episode looking weak. With a little bit of magnanimity, it could have easily tided over the Supreme Court’s intervention without losing any political capital.

It can still make amends. There is no harm in allowing prisoners access to medical facilities of their choosing. With concerns rising over the welfare of political prisoners, especially women incarcerated for unprecedented periods by this government, it can still choose magnanimity over retribution.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2026