World News | Inadvertently Violated Order: Ex-Pak PM Imran Khan Submits Reply in SC Contempt Case
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that he inadvertently violated its order restricting his party's long march from entering Islamabad's D-Chowk area adjacent to the high-security red zone in May this year.
Islamabad, Nov 16 (PTI) Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that he inadvertently violated its order restricting his party's long march from entering Islamabad's D-Chowk area adjacent to the high-security red zone in May this year.
The apex court in its May 25 order had issued clear instructions to Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to hold its Azadi march protest against the Shehbaz Sharif-led government near Peshawar Mor between the H-9 and G-9 areas of Islamabad.
Khan, who was ousted in April after the National Assembly passed a no-confidence motion, has been demanding early general elections.
However, Khan and his protesters had made their way toward D-Chowk, prompting the government to call in the army for the security of the federal capital's Red Zone.
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Submitting his reply in a contempt of court case through his lawyer Salman Akram Raja, Khan said he was not informed about the May 25 apex court order.
The PTI chief said he was not conveyed the exact directives of the court due to glitches in the communication because jammers were installed.
“Any inadvertent overstepping is sincerely regretted,” the 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician told the court.
“Any misconception on the part of the answering respondent was entirely inadvertent and caused by the circumstances in which the verbal order passed by the court was understood by various news channels and then communicated by political workers to the answering respondent,” he said.
Khan also alleged a meeting directed by the court between the officials and PTI leaders was not facilitated by the government and instead it used brutal force against his supporters, including women.
The acts of violence that occurred during the evening of May 25 at various places in Islamabad were the consequences of state brutality and no act of violence was either intended or encouraged by the PTI,” he said and requested the court to close the proceedings.
The federal government, through the interior ministry, had approached the Supreme court for initiating contempt of court proceedings against Khan for violating its May 25 order.
It maintained that the court had clearly ordered the PTI to restrict its so-called ‘Azadi March' near Peshawar Mor between the H-9 and G-9 areas of Islamabad. But Khan in violation of the order urged his supporters to move towards the D-Chowk in alleged contravention of court orders.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)