Imran Khan‘s contempt case was postponed by a Pakistani court after he declared his willingness to accept responsibility for his comments on a female judge. “If the court requests it, I will go to the female judge and apologise to her”. Imran Khan said in the Court.
During a hearing on Thursday, Khan assured the Islamabad High Court that he would never utter anything to offend the court or the judiciary. In brief order, the court wrote, “He stated that he understood during the hearings that he may have exceeded a red line.”
Khan had previously denied making threats. Khan’s indictment by the high court had been anticipated; if found guilty, this may have resulted in his exile from politics. According to Pakistani law, a politician who is convicted faces a minimum five-year disqualification.
According to the court ruling, he swore he would never again do anything to undermine the integrity of the court or the judiciary and that he would be willing to apologise to the female judge if she believed it was necessary.
A five-member court panel declared in its judgement that “we are, prima facie, satisfied,” directing Khan to submit an affidavit for the court’s consideration before the next hearing date of October 3.
A case involving alleged foreign funding for the PTI party is also being brought against the former Pakistani leader. On November 6, the matter will have its subsequent hearing. In April of this year, a parliamentary vote of no-confidence led to the overthrow of Khan’s administration.
Another serious charge against him relates to the illegal foreign funding of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which was the subject of an investigation by an election tribunal. Analysts claim that during Khan’s final months in office, the prominent generals who supported him during the 2018 election and helped him win lost interest in him.
Khan and the military refute that account of what happened. Since being ousted, the former premier has organised sizable protests and called for immediate elections. The ruling coalition has rebuffed his calls, insisting that elections would take place as scheduled later in 2023.
He has urged people to join a nationwide anti-government protest movement that begins on Saturday and ends with a march on Islamabad. Khan’s public statements that he would not spare the police and a judge who had denied bail to his assistant, Islamabad police, set up the accusations. Later, Khan and his legal team claimed the comments were not intended as a threat but vowed to sue the officers.
