Imran Khan ‘ready to apologize to female judge’
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) decided against indicting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Thursday, in the contempt of court case, after the former premier told the court he was ready to apologize to the judge, Zeba Chaudhry for his troublesome remarks.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had initiated contempt proceedings against chairman PTI Imran Khan over his tirade against Judge Chaudhry, who had approved PTI leader Shahbaz Gill’s physical remand in a sedition case, at a public rally in Islamabad’s F-9 Park on Aug 20.
At the previous hearing, the IHC had termed the PTI chief’s revised response in the case as “unsatisfactory” and decided to indict him on September 22 (today).
“Nobody speaks of rule of law apart from me in political rallies,” said Imran Khan.
“If you want me to go to the female judge and apologize,” he said, “I am prepared to do it.” “What I said was unintentional,” pleaded Imran.
“I assure the court that I will not do something like this in the future,” he said, adding that he was “sorry” for “crossing a red line.”
Following this, the IHC CJ said that the court would record the PTI chief’s statement and told Imran to submit an affidavit. “Submit an affidavit detailing what you have said,” the IHC CJ said.
“It is your personal decision as to visit the judge in person,” the IHC bench said. “If you have realized [your] mistake and ready to apologize for it […] that is enough,” the court remarked.
Imran Khan ‘ready to apologize to female judge’
“We appreciate it [the apology],” said the CJ, “what happened should not have occurred”. “For us, [the only concern] is the lower courts,” the judge added as he directed Imran to submit an affidavit regarding the matter in a week.
The hearing was subsequently adjourned till October 3 with the court directing the PTI chief to submit an affidavit within a week.
