On violation of order, Pak court seeks reply from ex-PM Imran Khan

New Delhi, Nov 03: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday gave another chance to former premier Imran Khan to explain his alleged violation of the court's order during his protest march on May 25.

The court is hearing a government plea regarding charging 70-year-old Imran Khan with contempt of court for flouting orders by the top court about keeping his Azadi March protest away from the D-Chowk adjacent to the Red Zone of Islamabad city.

A five member-bench, headed by CJP Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Mazahar Akbar Naqvi, heard the petition, news agency PTI reported.

The bench was apparently upset at the evasive methods used by the lawyers of Imran Khan and at one point it appeared that it would issue show cause notice to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader but in the end, the court followed the policy of restraint.

However, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed that the material available to the court justified the issuance of a notice to the former premier.

"We are giving another chance to Imran for an explanation," he said, adding that the court had been proceeding with "caution" and "patience" in this case.

"According to the material available with the court, a notice should be issued to Imran Khan. We are still giving him a chance to explain," he said.

Finally, the court ordered Imran Khan to provide a detailed reply with his signatures by November 5 and adjourned its hearing.

The court was not satisfied with Khan's earlier reply that he was not aware of any undertaking given by his party that the protest rally would be held only at the designated places.

Earlier, the government, through the interior ministry, had approached the Supreme Court last week for initiating contempt of court proceedings against the cricketer-turned-politician for violating its May 25 order, wherein the PTI was restricted from holding its 'Azadi March' near Peshawar Mor between the H-9 and G-9 areas of Islamabad.

However, Khan and his supporters made their way toward D-Chowk in alleged contravention of court orders to stay away from that area.