The Islamabad High Court (IHC) announced in a circular on Wednesday that PTI Chairman Imran Khan will be formally charged with contempt of court tomorrow (Thursday) for his contentious comments regarding Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry during a rally in Islamabad on August 20.
According to the circular, the case will begin at 2:30 pm, at which time a larger bench of the IHC will lay out Imran Khan’s charges.
The circular stated that Imran Khan’s legal team would have 15 members, as well as 15 attorneys and advocates general from the office of the attorney general.
It further stated that nobody else will be permitted admission into the courtroom unless they have the special permits given by the IHC Registrar office.
It said, “[The] Islamabad government and police would put in place security measures to uphold decorum in court.”
Imran Khan will be indicted by the court.
At the most recent hearing on September 8, Imran Khan’s reaction was deemed “unsatisfactory,” and the IHC made the decision to indict the former prime minister since he had not offered a full apology.
The PTI chairman did not apologize in his initial response to the IHC’s show-cause notice in the case, but he did offer to retract his comments “if they were incorrect”.
The PTI chairman appeared to have chosen to convince the court that it should dismiss the notice based on his explanation and adhere to the Islamic values of forgiveness in his most recent and second response, a 19-page document.
In spite of amici curiae’s recommendations that the former prime minister be pardoned, the PTI chairman did not provide an unequivocal apology in either of his responses, which ultimately led to the court making the decision.