In response to the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) show-cause notice in the contempt case, former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan on Monday offered to “take back” his contentious comments against additional district and sessions judge Zeba Chaudhry.
Through his lawyer, Imran claimed that he was unaware that Chaudhry, who had approved the detention of his chief of staff Shahbaz Gill in a sedition case and drawn the ire of the PTI leader, was a judicial officer at the time he made the remarks. He claimed that instead, he had the “misconception” that she was an executive magistrate carrying out administrative duties for the federal government.
Earlier this month, Imran was served with a show-cause notice and contempt charges for “undermining the credibility and honesty of the justice process in the eyes of the public at large,” according to a three-member IHC bench that included Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani as well as Justices Babar Sattar and Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.On August 31, the court also had summoned him.
The PTI leader said in his provisional reply, which was submitted before the high court today, “The respondent [Imran] submits with humility that if the remarks he uttered is seen as inappropriate, he is willing to take them back.” A copy of the provisional reply is available .Imran’s attorney maintained that the former premier had mistaken the magistrate for the extra sessions judge.
It said that the PTI head had no intention of disparaging the judge, saying, “It was under this mistake that she was referred to a magistrate.””It is argued that the respondent’s alleged speech or words were neither directly directed at the judicial official nor were they motivated by ill w
