Contempt case: IHC expected to indict Imran later today

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is expected to formally indict former prime minister Imran Khan later today (Thursday) in contempt proceedings against him for passing controversial remarks against Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry.

The IHC had initiated contempt proceedings against Imran over his diatribe against Judge Chaudhry, who had approved PTI leader Shahbaz Gill’s physical remand in a sedition case, at a public rally in Islamabad’s F-9 Park on Aug 20.

At the previous hearing, the IHC had termed the PTI chief’s revised response in the case as “unsatisfactory” and decided to indict him on September 22 (today).

A circular issued by the court earlier stated that the case would be taken up at 2:30pm to ensure that regular cases were not affected and litigants/lawyers were not disturbed.

“And in order to ensure the honour dignity and decorum of the court, and keeping in view the limited seating capacity in courtroom 1, the entry in the courtroom shall be subject to [an] ‘entry pass’ issued by the office of the registrar, IHC.”

In the circular, the IHC directed the Attorney General’s office and Advocate General Islamabad to submit a list of 10 and five law officers, respectively, for the issuance of entry passes. Similarly, the respondent’s counsels were also told to submit a list of not more than 15 learned counsels/persons.

The amici curiae, the IHC Bar Association, president of the IHC Journalists Association were also told to submit lists for issuance of passes. Further, the ICT administration and the Islamabad IG were told to ensure proper administrative and security arrangements to maintain decorum.

The case

The decision to initiate contempt proceedings against Imran was taken by Justice Aamer Farooq while hearing a petition challenging Gill’s police remand. The court summoned Imran on August 31 and subsequently issued him a show-cause notice.

A day before the hearing, the former prime minister submitted a reply before the IHC wherein he expressed his willingness to “take back” his words about the judge if they were “regarded as inappropriate” and pleaded before the IHC that the judges who had agreed to initiate the case against him should consider withdrawing themselves from the bench as, according to him, they had pre-judged the matter.

However, the IHC had deemed the response to be “unsatisfactory” and asked the PTI chief to submit a “well-considered” response.

Following this, Imran submitted a fresh reply in the court. In the revised response, however, Imran stopped short of rendering an unconditional apology. He stated that “I have a profound regard and respect for this honourable court and its subordinate courts and judge”.

On September 8, the IHC decided to Indict Imran, once again calling his response “unsatisfactory”.

“The learned counsel for the respondent took us through the supplementary response filed by the respondent and submitted that it was an explanation of the speech in relation to which contempt proceedings have been initiated,” the court order stated.

The court maintained that it considered the response filed by Imran and did not find it satisfactory. “We are not convinced that the respondent has purged himself of the wrongdoing alleged against him in relation to which the show cause notice was issued,” the IHC added.