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Imran Khan dodges contempt charges as Pakistan court withdraws show cause notice

Pakistan's former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan appeared before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday, where the case was heard by a five-member larger bench, headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and comprising Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Babar Sattar.

PTI

Updated Oct 3, 2022, 16:44 IST

Last month, Imran Khan apologised before the IHC for his controversial remarks against the female judge and promised that he will not repeat it in the future. (File image)

Photo : IANS

Islamabad: Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan dodged contempt charges on Monday after a court here withdrew the show cause notice issued to him in a case pertaining to 'threatening' a female judge.

The 69-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief appeared before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday, where the case was heard by a five-member larger bench, headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and comprising Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Babar Sattar.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Minallah observed that the bench was satisfied with the apology and the conduct of Khan, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.

During a rally in Islamabad on August 20, Khan had threatened to file cases against top police officials, election commission and political opponents over the treatment meted out to his aide Shahbaz Gill, who was arrested on charges of sedition.

He had also taken exception to Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry, who had approved Gill's two-day physical remand at the request of the Capital Territory Police, and said she should "prepare herself as action would be taken against her".

Hours after the speech, Khan was booked for threatening police, judiciary and other state institutions at his rally.

Last month, Khan apologised before the IHC for his controversial remarks against the female judge and promised that he will not repeat it in the future.

"I am sorry if I have crossed a red line," Khan told the bench, which was expected to formally indict him in contempt proceedings.

In an affidavit submitted to the court two days ago, Khan had assured the court that he would never do anything in the future that would hurt the dignity of any court and the judiciary, especially the lower judiciary.

Khan had also said that he will fully follow what he said before the court in the last hearing, and added that he was ready to take further action to satisfy the court in this regard.

The deposed premier further said that he was "willing to apologize" if the judge thought that he crossed a "red line".

Three days earlier, Khan had also appeared before an Islamabad lower court to personally apologise to Judge Chaudhry, who was not present there at the time.

Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.

The cricketer-turned-politician, who came to power in 2018, is the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.

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