ISLAMABAD: PTI workers and leaders staged a protest outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday over former prime minister Imran Khan’s health and the party’s pending cases before the court.

The demonstration was called off after the court registrar assured protesters that the cases would be taken up early. The party had approached the registrar seeking both early hearings of the cases and access to the incarcerated former premier for his family members and personal doctors.

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, speaking to reporters after meeting the registrar, said the party had asked that the pending cases be fixed without delay. “We have been assured that all the cases will be fixed for hearing next week,” he said, adding that the cause list would be issued.

He said the party would press the matter in court next week and hoped for relief for Mr Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, before announcing an end to the sit-in and calling on supporters to return to the streets on Thursday. Party lawyers were told five petitions concerning access to Mr Khan would be listed.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who joined the protest, said the nation held grave reservations about Mr Khan’s wellbeing and that the party was not politicising the issue.

He urged that Mr Khan be treated under the supervision of his own physicians and in his family’s presence, and drew a comparison with Mr Khan’s decision as prime minister to let Nawaz Sharif travel abroad for medical treatment.

The protest is the latest in a series of PTI actions pressing for movement on cases the party says have been left pending, and for independent confirmation of Imran Khan’s condition in custody. Similar assurances of early fixation have followed previous protests without the party securing substantive relief.