Imran, Fawad indicted in ECP contempt case

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Wednesday finally indicted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry in the contempt of the commission case.

The four-member bench, headed by Nisar Ahmad Durrani and consisting of three other ECP members, heard the contempt of election commission and chief election commissioner (CEC) case in the Adiala Jail. Imran and Fawad are incarcerated in the jail.

The charge-sheet was read out and its copies were given to the alleged contemners. They were served notices of contempt in 2022 for using intemperate language and contemptuous remarks against the ECP and CEC.

After the indictment, the hearing was adjourned till January 16.

On his part, Fawad recently filed an application in the commission for open hearing of the case.

It may be recalled that the Interior Ministry had declined to present Imran before the ECP in the case, citing security reasons. The ECP had taken the opinion of Law Ministry after a security report was shared with it by the Ministry of Interior and then decided to conduct the hearing in the jail.

As per the Pemra record, the ECP said Imran Khan used ridiculous and unparliamentary language against the commission in his speeches, press conferences and statements on May 11, May 16, June 29, July 19, July 20 and August 7, and made defamatory statements and made baseless allegations which were broadcast live on the main TV channels. Similar grounds were mentioned in the notice served on Fawad.

Meanwhile, PTI’s lawyer Intezar Hussain Panjutha claimed on his ‘X’ account that Imran was indicted in the absence of his lawyers. “No one has seen such a controversial Election Commission in the history of Pakistan,” he said.

Imran reportedly accused the Election Commission members of bias and pointed out what he called a lack of impartiality in the proceedings of the case. He also complained about the arrest and detention of around 900 party leaders and workers. “The way the elections are being held warrant invocation of Article 6 against you,” he reportedly told the ECP bench.

Earlier, the PTI’s counsel requested the ECP bench not to indict Imran today since the head of the party’s legal team, Shoaib Shaheen, was busy at the Supreme Court (SC).

However, the Election Commission bench dismissed his request and maintained the indictment had earlier been deferred twice.

In chat with reporters outside the jail, advocate Ali Bukhari announced that PTI will challenge the indictment in the high court.