In a major relief for cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday withdrew the contempt of court notice against him.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali discharged the notice after hearing the arguments of Attorney General Munir A Malik in the case who said that it is not the matter of disobedience.
Khan, 60, had run into trouble with the assertive judiciary because of a press statement issued by him after the May 11 general elections. The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief had later said the statement was made in good faith wherein the reference to the judiciary was for the returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs) belonging to the subordinate judiciary assigned to the election process.
However, the Supreme Court issued a notice saying Khan had apparently tried to incite hatred against the judges in his interaction with the media. Justice Ejaz Chaudhry, who heard the matter, said the term "shameful" is abusive if used against the judiciary. Khan's prosecutor Hamid Khan mentioned that the word "shameful" was used for the presiding officers functioning in May 11 elections and not for the judiciary.
Khan had earlier said that he did not commit any contempt of court, arguing that the word "shameful" was neither abusive nor was used to refer to the court. His prosecutor had on Tuesday submitted a 21-page reply to the apex court.
Later talking to media persons Khan said he believes in an independent judiciary and his comments were not meant against the top institution. He again demanded detailed investigation into election rigging in four constituencies and said that the role of Returning Officers should be made transparent. Imran has said that his party does not want any kind of confrontation with the Supreme Court.
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