A larger bench of five judges from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has been appointed to sue Pakistani leader Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Prime Minister Imran Khan in contempt of court for “intimidation of a female judge”.
The bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah includes Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Justice Babar Sattar, Dawn reported.
The bench will resume proceedings on the issue on August 31, for which the court summoned Imran Khan in his personal capacity and referred the case to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, asking for the inclusion of more judges on the bench.
Initially, the case was heard by a three-member bench.
The court issued a show cause notice to the PTI leader on Tuesday after filing contempt of court proceedings against him for threatening Extra Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry at a public rally.
The show cause notice to Khan stated that the statement was made in a pending case to obtain a “favorable” verdict and prima facie, this act amounted to perverting the course of justice and due process and undermining the public confidence in the court. .
According to the Dawn newspaper, Khan prima facie committed “criminal and judicial contempt, punishable under section 5 of the Contempt of Court Order 2003”, it added.
“These remarks were made with the intention of bringing the administration of the law into disrepute and eroding the integrity and credibility of the judicial system.”
Separately, Yaseen Gill, brother of Imran Khan’s Chief of Staff, Shahbaz Gill, filed a complaint before the IHC Chief Justice against Extra Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry.
He said that “she had passed the order on August 17, 2022 to hand over custody of Shahbaz to the police in grave breach and derogation of judicial standards and express provisions of the law”.
Pakistan’s President Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been convicted of threatening a judge and two senior police officers during a public meeting held at F-9 Park late Saturday night.
Khan was arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
The president of the PTI had organized a rally in the federal capital on August 20 to express his solidarity with his chief of staff Shahbaz Gill after allegations of torture in detention.
He warned the Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General of Islamabad that he would ‘not spare’ them, promising to press charges against them for subjecting Gill to alleged inhuman torture, according to Geo tv.
Imran’s lawyers, Babar Awan and Faisal Chaudhry, filed a bail motion on his behalf in a terrorism case filed for ‘threatening’ a female judge and senior police officers during a a public gathering.
The pre-arrest bail plea argued that the case was based on “guess and conjecture” and that no evidence was available on file against Imran in the case. He also argued that there was no “direct or indirect” evidence available on the record against Imran in the case.
Another point highlighted in the plea was the assurance that if granted a protective bond, there would be “no likelihood” that Imran would abscond or tamper with the evidence against him.
It should be noted that a terrorism case has been filed against Imran Khan for using derogatory language and threatening Extra Session Judge Zeba Chaudhry in his speech in Islamabad on August 20. Sources say the text of the PTI chief’s August 20 speech was also included in the FIR.
Imran Khan, addressing a PTI rally in Islamabad, had said they would file complaints against Inspector General of Islamabad Police, Deputy IG Islamabad Police and Magistrate Zeba Chaudhry for the torture of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill.
(Only the title and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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