Imran Khan to be indicted in contempt case tomorrow, IHC issues circular

ISLAMABAD: A larger bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) will frame contempt of court charges against PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday for passing controversial remarks about Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry during a rally in Islamabad on August 20.

According to a circular issued by the IHC, a larger bench of the court will start proceedings of the case at 2:30pm tomorrow. 

“A 15-member legal team of Imran Khan, 15 law officers from the office of Attorney General and Advocate General will be allowed to enter the courtroom,” read the circular.

No one will be allowed to enter the courtroom without the special passes issued by the IHC Registrar's office, it added.

“Islamabad administration and police will take security arrangements to maintain the decorum of the court,” it added.

IHC decides to indict Imran Khan

During the last hearing on September 8, a five-member larger bench of the IHC had decided to frame charges against Imran Khan in the contempt of court case.

The five-member bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangir, and Justice Babar Sattar, heard the case.

IHC CJ Athar Minallah noted that Imran Khan's response was not satisfactory as the PTI leader did not submit an unconditional apology.

In his first response to the IHC's show-cause notice in the case, the PTI chairman did not apologise, however, he offered to withdraw his remarks “if they were inappropriate.”

In his last reply, which was a 19-page-long document, the PTI chairman seemingly opted to tell the court that it should discharge the show-cause notice based on his explanation and follow the Islamic principles of forgiveness.

However, in both responses, the PTI chairman did not offer an unconditional apology, which ultimately led to the court taking the decision despite amici curiae suggesting that the former prime minister be forgiven.