Pakistan's election commission accepts Imran Khan's apology

Islamabad, Oct 26: Pakistan's election commission on Thursday warned Opposition leader Imran Khan to be careful in his choice of words in future after accepting an apology from him for his scandalous remarks against the top poll body.

Cricketer-turned-politician Khan appeared before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) today in two contempt cases, about two weeks after non-bailable arrest warrant issue against him with direction to appear before it on October 26.

Though, the Islamabad High Court last week suspended the non-bailable arrest warrant still Khan appeared before the five-member ECP bench led by Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza. The ECP had issued the contempt notice to 64-year-old Khan on January 24 over his scandalous remarks about the commission.

Akbar Babar, the petitioner who had filed the foreign funding case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership, had informed the ECP that Khan had accused it of being biased in the foreign funding case following which his counsel tendered an apology with the commission.

PTI chairman Khan's lawyer Babar Awan said that he had already submitted an apology by Khan but the bench ordered the accused to furnish fresh written apologies against his criticism of the ECP on September 20 in Karachi and his another statement months earlier when he termed the ECP as "biased".

Khan submitted apologies in both cases which were signed by him and the ECP accepted while the bench's head Sardar Raza said that he should be careful in his words in future or he would have to face consequences. Later, Khan told media that he was happy as the ECP accepted his apology and quashed the cases against him.

"I respect the national institutions but I want to make them credible. I want ECP to be as credible as in India so that elections are accepted by the parties," he said.

PTI