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IHC decides to discharge contempt notice against Imran Khan

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  • IHC discharges contempt notice against Imran Khan.
  • IHC CJ says court is satisfied with PTI chairman’s conduct.
  • Court issues unanimous verdict.

In a major development, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday, in a unanimous verdict, decided to discharge the contempt notice against former prime minister Imran Khan.

A larger bench, headed by IHC Cheif Justice Athar Minallah and comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, and Justice Babar Sattar,  heard the case today.

The former prime minister was facing contempt charges for his controversial remarks about Judicial Magistrate Zeba Chaudhry during a rally in Islamabad on August 20.

At the outset of today’s hearing, IHC CJ Minallah said that the bench has seen the affidavit submitted by Imran Khan.

“Imran Khan demonstrated honesty and went to apologise to the judge,” he remarked, adding that discharging the contempt notice is the bench’s unanimous decision.

Justice Minallah also stated that the court is also “satisfied” with Imran Khan’s conduct.

While announcing the verdict, the court discharged the contempt of court notice against Imran Khan.

Following the court’s verdict, the PTI chief said that the court has taken a “great decision”.

‘Won’t go back to assembly’: Imran Khan

Earlier, while speaking to the journalists outside the court, the PTI chief said that the party MNAs will not go back to the National Assembly.

The former premier, talking about the return of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s passport, said that the nation is upset as these “thieves” are getting NRO II.

“It is proved that there is no rule of law in this country,” he responded.

‘Fitna has been forgiven’: Maryam Nawaz

In response to the IHC verdict, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said that “fitna” has been forgiven.

“The contempt was committed and in front of the entire world. So instead of saying that the case has been dismissed, it would be more appropriate to say that fitna has been forgiven,” Maryam wrote on Twitter.

Reacting to the PML-N leader’s Tweet, former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the case against Khan was based on a misunderstanding.

He said that the actual issue is about PML-N leaders’ “properties worth billions of rupees” which is being forgiven — an indirect reference to Maryam Nawaz’s acquittal in Avenfield corruption reference by the IHC.

Imran Khan avoid’s tendering unconditional apology 

At a hearing on September 22, Khan had surprisingly apologised before the IHC and assured the bench that he would not issue such a statement again — leading the court to delay his indictment.

However, Khan — for the third time — avoided tendering an unconditional apology in the contempt case as he submitted his response to IHC last week. 

In his latest response, although mentioning that he “might have crossed a red line while making a public speech”, Khan fell short of apologizing for his remarks.

He stated that he assures the court that he is willing to explain and clarify before the female judge that neither he nor his party sought any action against her, and he would “never do anything in future” that would hurt the dignity of any court and the judiciary, especially the lower judiciary.

The PTI chairman added that he is willing to take any further steps that the IHC deems necessary and that he never intended to interfere with the process of the court or impugn the dignity or independence of the judiciary.

The former chief executive said that he stands by his September 22 statement and “once again assure[s] this court that he would always abide by the afore-referred statement, in letter and spirit”.

Earlier, the former premier reached the court of judge Zeba Chauhdry to personally apologise to her but she was on leave that day.

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Imran Khan’s bail request in the Toshakhana-II case has had its objections dismissed.

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In the Toshakhana-II case, the Islamabad High Court has dismissed the objections to PTI founder Imran Khan’s bail request.

IHC instructed the registrar’s office to schedule the hearing for the case for Monday.

Imran Khan’s attorneys, Shaheena Shahab, Ayesha Khalid, and others, arrived in court today as IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the case.

The registrar’s objections to the plea were questioned by Justice Aurangzeb. In the Toshakhana-II case, Imran Khan submitted a bail application, according to counsel Ayesha Khalid.

Justice Miangul said that previous rulings in circumstances comparable to this one adhered to the consistency principle. In this instance, the petitioner was a man, he added.

Bushra Bibi was given bail because she was a woman, according to the justice, and an application like this one was denied yesterday.

Given that the case action date was November and the power of attorney was executed in July, Justice Aurangzeb raised a concern about the timing.

Justice requested the help of Advocate Shah Khawar in this case.

When an applicant was held in jail, Shah Khawar retorted that it was standard procedure to obtain signatures on required documents, such as a power of attorney.

Imran Khan’s attorney, Shaheena Shahab, asked the court to send out notices regarding the bail plea. A judge named Aurangzeb said that the law would be observed.

Following arguments, the court dismissed the registrar office’s objections and ordered that the case hearing be scheduled for Monday.

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PTI presents seven nominations to Imran Khan for the judicial commission.

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has proposed seven individuals to its founder, Imran Khan, for consideration as founding members of PTI for membership in the next Judicial Commission.

None of the nominated individuals are attorneys; rather, the roster includes four Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and three senators.

The proposed MNAs are Umar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Ali Mohammad Khan, and Aamir Dogar, while the senators are Shibli Faraz, Mohsen Aziz, and Aun Abbas Bapi. Sources suggest that the Judicial Commission will include one opposition member from both the National Assembly and the Senate.

The PTI founder will evaluate and endorse two names from the suggested list, which will then be sent to the Speaker for future actions.

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Miller confirmed that Biden’s administration got a letter from a congressman requesting the release of the PTI founder.

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Following his removal as prime minister in 2022, Khan started a protest movement against a coalition of his enemies led by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Since then, he has been in jail since August 2023 and has been involved in hundreds of cases.

In response to ARY News’ question over the congressmen’s letter during a media briefing in Washington on Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, “We will respond in due course to the members.”

The United States wants to see Pakistan maintain its democracy, Miller stated.

The release of the PTI founder’s wife and sisters was a result of a meeting between the US Deputy Assistant Secretary and a Pakistani government representative in Islamabad, which was further questioned during the press briefing.

“I won’t be addressing that,” Miller said when asked if the United States was involved in their release. Miller did, however, affirm that the conference included the defense of Pakistan’s basic liberties and rights.

Sixty-two members of the US Congress urged President Joe Biden on October 24 to support the release of Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, and other political prisoners.

The congressmen, who included well-known Muslim members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, said in their letter that the Biden administration should ask Pakistani authorities to guarantee the safety of PTI founder Imran Khan.

They also underlined that US policy should concentrate on Pakistan’s human rights situation and asked that US ambassadors attend the PTI leader’s incarceration.

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