Pakistan court to indict ex-PM Khan on contempt of court charges

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday decided to indict former prime minister Imran Khan on contempt of court charges. The court will indict Khan after two weeks at a hearing on September 22.

If convicted of insulting a judge, it could lead to his disqualification from politics. “The court has decided to indict him. It is a decision by a five-member bench” his lawyer Faisal Chaudhry told reporters. The verdict was issued by a five-member bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Babar Sattar and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri.

The court said it was not satisfied with Khan’s response in a contempt case after making controversial remarks against a female judge last month. Khan had denied threatening the judge though he offered to take back his words if “regarded as inappropriate”.

During the hearing, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah noted that Khan’s replies to the court’s notice appeared to be “justifying” contempt of the judiciary and showed “no remorse or regret”.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan was charged with threatening government officials under the country’s anti-terrorism a day after he criticized the police and a judicial officer at a speech at the August 20 public rally in Islamabad. Khan vowed to sue police officers and a female judge as he alleged that his close aide Shahbaz Gill, arrested on sedition charges, had been tortured in police custody. The police and government have denied the claims. In response, a contempt of court case was initiated against him over remarks.

Imran Khan came into power in 2018 and was ousted in April in a no-confidence vote in parliament. Since then, he has held several massive rallies across the country to demand early elections. Despite his ouster, Khan remains a political force and extremely popular, especially among the young Pakistanis.