The PTI’s top-tier leadership backed its chairman Imran Khan after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decided to indict the former prime minister after two weeks in a contempt of court case.
The court had taken notice of the former prime minister’s speech at a public rally, where he allegedly threatened Islamabad additional sessions judge Zeba Chaudhry for extending PTI leader Shahbaz Gill’s remand.
In response, PTI’s leaders started a Twitter trend #IStandWithImranKhan and stated that their party would fight the case as the former prime minister had struggled for the rule of law.
PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar said that in Khan’s 26-year political career, an important aspect was that he always wanted an independent judiciary.
عمران خان کی 26 سالہ جدوجہد کا اہم ترین پہلو قانون کی حکمرانی اور عدلیہ کی آزادی رہا ہے. انشاءاللہ انصاف پر مبنی فیصلہ خان کو سرخرو کرے گا
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) September 8, 2022
“InshaAllah, a decision based on justice will ensure Khan’s victory,” he said.
What’s the case?
The IHC earlier today decided to indict the PTI chairman on September 22 after the former prime minister did not submit an unconditional apology.
“Imran Khan’s response was unsatisfactory,” said IHC CJ Athar Minallah. CJ Minallah is heading a five-member bench — comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangir, and Justice Babar Sattar — that heard the case.
The court had last month taken notice of the former prime minister’s speech at a public rally, where he allegedly threatened judge Chaudhry for extending the remand of Gill.
At the last hearing, the IHC chief justice had asked Khan to ensure that he submits a “well-considered” response in seven days to the show-cause notice, otherwise the court would have its way.
In his first response to the IHC’s show-cause notice in the case, the PTI chairman did not apologise, offering, however, to withdraw his remarks “if they were inappropriate.”
In his latest response, which was a 19-page-long document, the PTI chairman seemingly opted to tell the court that it should discharge the 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.
