ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Athar Minallah said it has not been realised that PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s offence was extremely serious.
The OHC chief justice stated this in Thursday’s hearing of a contempt of court against Khan for allegedly threatening a female judge Zeba Chaudhry during a public rally at F-9 Park in Islamabad.
The PTI chairman Imran Khan appeared before a five-member IHC bench amid strict security measures in and around the premises of the court.
Moreover, the ways leading to the court have been barricaded with barbed wires, while availability of tear gas shells and an armoured vehicle has also been ensured to deal with any untoward situation.
At the beginning of hearing, Imran Khan’s lawyer Hamid Khan started arguments, saying that he agrees with the observation given by the court at the last hearing and wants to put precise requests before the court.
“We want to wind up this matter,” he said, informing the court that a detailed reply has been submitted.
The lawyer contended that the IHC referred to two verdicts of the Supreme Court, which were issued in the cases of Daniyal Aziz and Talal Chaudhry.
“Imran Khan’s case doesn’t fall under these two verdicts. The two cases were totally different from that of Imran Khan,” he maintained.
At this, CJ Minallah remarked that there are three types of contempt of court, described in the Firdous Ashiq Awan case which was a matter of scandalising the court.
“There is civil contempt of court, the second is judicial contempt and the third criminal contempt,” he said.
