On Tuesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) deferred PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s indictment until August 2 in a case pertaining to contempt of the electoral body and the chief election commissioner (CEC).
The ECP issued the directives as a four-member bench headed by member Nisar Durrani heard the case. During today’s hearing, Imran made his first appearance before the electoral watchdog since the matter was taken up in October last year.
A day earlier, the ECP had ordered Islamabad police to arrest Imran and present him before the election watchdog.
The ECP had initiated contempt proceedings against the PTI chief, party leader Asad Umar and former information minister Chaudhry last year for allegedly using “intemperate” language against the chief election commissioner and the electoral watchdog.
However, instead of appearing before the ECP, the three challenged the ECP notices and contempt proceedings in various high courts because Section 10 of the Elections Act 2017, the statutory provision regarding the commission’s power to punish for contempt, was against the Constitution. The PTI leaders had also sought from the high courts a declaratory relief from the charges.
But in January, the Supreme Court allowed the ECP to continue proceedings against Imran, Chaudhry and Umar, and on June 21, the ECP decided to frame charges against the trio.
In the July 11 hearing, they did not appear before the commission despite being summoned, following which the ECP issued arrest warrants for Chaudhry and Imran. It had, however, accepted a plea by Umar’s lawyer to allow him an exemption from the hearing.
Today, Imran appeared before the ECP bench alongside his counsel, Shoaib Shaheen. A member of the ECP bench stated that they had intended to indict the former prime minister in the case today.
