Islamabad: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday expressed deep regret over his provocative remarks against a female judge but once again stopped short of tendering an unconditional apology in a contempt of court case.
During a rally in Islamabad on August 20, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief threatened to file cases against top police officials, the election commission and political opponents over the treatment meted out to his aide Shahbaz Gill, who was arrested on charges of sedition.
Khan had also taken exception to Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry, who had approved Gill’s two-day physical remand at the request of the Islamabad Police, and said she should prepare herself as the action would be taken against her.
Hours after the speech, Khan was booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act for threatening police, judiciary and other state institutions at his rally.
He personally appeared before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on August 31 which expressed dissatisfaction over his written response to the show-cause notice issued by the court. However, the court also offered him a second opportunity to file a proper response in writing.
In the supplementary reply, Khan stated that the remarks were unintentional and not meant to be directed towards the lady judge for whom he has a lot of respect .
Khan said that he never meant to hurt her feelings and if her feelings have been hurt, it is deeply regretted , adding that he neither meant to threaten the lady judge nor could he think of doing so .
The former premier also assured the court that he has huge respect for the judiciary including the Subordinate judiciary and he [ ] believes that judges of the Subordinate/District judiciary are performing vital functions for dispensation of justice .
He also added that he had enormous respect for the judiciary, stands firmly for the rights of women in Pakistan” and strongly supports the idea of greater induction and representation of lady judges .
The Respondent [Imran] also assures this Hon’ble Court that he would not shy away from expressing his remorse to her, according to a statement.
A five-member bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minal lah, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aur an gzeb, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Justice Babar Sattar, is hearing the contempt case.
During the previous hearing, the Chief Justice observed that he was expecting Khan would admit to making a mistake in his reply.
I was expecting that you would go to the courts and say that you trust them (the courts), he said, adding that the response disappointed him.
He also remarked that apparently Khan had failed to realise the gravity of what he had said.
The IHC is set to take up the hearing on Thursday and it would be interesting if Khan’s supplementary response satisfies the court or if he earns another rebuke.
Last month, Khan showed his willingness to withdraw his controversial remarks against a female judge but stopped short of tendering an apology.
The respondent (Khan) submits with humility that if the words he uttered are regarded as inappropriate, he is willing to take them back, Khan said in his reply submitted to the court.
Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a U.S.-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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