ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday deferred indicting ex-premier Imran Khan for contempt of court after he apologized to the bench and said he was ready to say sorry to a woman judge he is accused of threatening during a speech last month.
A conviction in a contempt case can mean disqualification from politics for life since under Pakistani law a convicted person cannot run for office. Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and several members of Pakistani parliament have in the past been convicted of contempt and been disqualified from contesting elections for five years.
“I am ready to apologize to the female judge,” Khan told the court after taking the witness stand. “I assure the court that I will not do something like this in the future.”
The IHC chief justice Athar Minallah then remarked that it would not be “appropriate” to initiate contempt proceedings and adjourned the hearing in the case until October 3.
“We do appreciate whatever you [Imran Khan] have said,” the chief justice maintained. “We are not framing the charge.”
The top high court judge pointed out there was a legal requirement to fulfil before accepting or rejecting Khan’s apology.
“We certainly do appreciate that you’ve realized [your mistake],” he continued. “You may file an affidavit and we will consider it.”
Khan expressed his willingness to submit the affidavit and even asked the court to let him know if it wanted him to write anything beyond a simple apology in his affidavit.
“We are not dictating you anything,” said the chief justice in response. “It is your choice [whatever you want to write in the affidavit].”
“You may get help from the three amici curiae,” Justice Minallah added. “They can advise you what to write [in the affidavit].”
In a previous hearing, the court had appointed three eminent lawyers, Munir A. Malik, Makhdoom Ali Khan and Akhtar Hussain, to assist the court in the contempt proceedings. Two of them, Malik and Khan, were also present in the court today.
The court later issued a short order, saying: “We are, prima facie, satisfied with the apology rendered by the respondent. Let him file an affidavit for consideration of this Court before the next date fixed.”
The ex-premier was accompanied by his chief of staff, Senator Shibli Faraz, and senior party leader, Asad Umar, while entering the court.
However, security officials did not allow another senior party member Shah Mahmood Qureshi to attend the proceedings since he did not have an entry pass to the courtroom.
At the outset of the hearing, when the chief justice said the court was going to frame the charge against Khan, the former prime minister’s legal counsel, Hamid Khan, requested the five-member bench to allow his client to speak.
Khan said he had struggled for the rule of law and independence of judiciary in the country for 26 years and never wanted to threaten or hurt the feelings of the female judge.
“I never had an intention of threatening the female judge, but legal action has been started against me,” he said. “I can go to the female judge to clarify [my position] and apologize if I had crossed a certain red line.”
The ex-premier also assured the court he would not make any such mistake in the future.
“I assure you that I will never hurt the feelings of the judiciary and the judges in the future,” he added.
After the hearing, Attorney-General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf told Arab News he would first see the written response of the former prime minister in the contempt case and then devise a strategy on how to handle it.
“Let him first submit the written response, then we will see what to do,” he said.
Under Pakistani law, Khan’s last appearance on September 8 was a chance offered by the Islamabad High Court for the ousted premier to apologize unconditionally and avoid going to trial. But Khan insisted he had made no threats, in turn prompting the court to schedule the next hearing for September 22, today, saying it would indict him.
The charges against Khan relate to a speech last month at a rally in the capital, Islamabad, in which he said, according to a police report, that he “would not spare” Islamabad’s police chief and the female judge, alleging that his former chief of staff, Dr. Shahbaz Gill, had been tortured in police custody after being arrested on charges of sedition and ordered in police remand by the judge.
Police and prison authorities deny the allegation. Gill is now out on bail after being in custody for about a month.
Khan’s aides have described his legal woes as an attempt to knock him out “technically” after seeing his growing popularity among people at mass rallies since his ouster in April in a parliamentary no-confidence vote. The countrywide rallies, and threats of a mass march to Islamabad, are aimed at forcing the government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to hold early elections.
Sharif has rejected the demand, saying the vote should take place as scheduled in 2023.
Khan, who served as prime minister for over three-and-a-half years, says the current government came to power under a plot orchestrated by the United States, which was allegedly peeved with his adoption of an independent foreign policy.
Washington has denied the charges.