Pak court dismisses contempt of court petition against Imran Khan

A Pakistani court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking contempt of court proceedings against Prime Minister Imran Khan for "ridiculing" the judiciary. Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah had earlier reserved the verdict after hearing the initial arguments regarding the maintainability of the petition filed by advocate Saleemullah Khan on Monday.

Chief Justice Minallah dismissed the contempt of court petition filed against Prime Minister Khan, Geo TV reported. The petition referred to remarks made by Khan during his recent speech at the inaugural ceremony of Havelian-Mansehra section of the Hazara motorway at Havelian in Abbottabad, 140 kilometers from Rawalpindi.

The petitioner said the prime minister had "committed serious contempt". Earlier, Chief Justice Minallah asked the appellant: "What problem do you have with the prime minister's speech?"

The petitioner responded that the prime minister had "ridiculed the judiciary". "The courts welcome criticism. Do you want a trial of an elected prime minister? Do you know the outcome of such a move? Do you want the prime minister to be disqualified?" Justice Minallah asked.

In his speech, Khan had urged Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa and senior judge of the Supreme Court Justice Gulzar Ahmed to restore public confidence in the judiciary. He said there was a perceived disparity in how the powerful and common people were treated in the country's judicial system.

"Do not hurl taunts at us for favouring the powerful, because everybody is equal before us," Justice Khosa said in response to Khan's remarks.