- Imran Khan claims he was not told of the court’s decision on May 25.
- We regret taking this move by accident, says the PTI chief.
- States that peaceful and legal protests have always been his desire
ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has sought the Supreme Court to stop the contempt of court proceedings relating to the events that occurred on May 25, 2022, during the party’s maiden long march.
The former prime minister’s attorney, Salman Akram Raja, filed a 23-page rebuttal with the Supreme Court. The court had earlier this month ordered the PTI chairman for an explanation in the contempt case.
The federal government charged the PTI leader with contempt of court for his lengthy march to the federal capital.
In response, Khan maintained that he did not disobey the Supreme Court’s order on purpose, and that he was unaware that the injunction applied to the events on May 25.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling to allow lawyer Babar Awan to talk with Khan, Khan said that the administration failed to organize a meeting.
According to the PTI’s head, We apologize having taken this unintentional step. The demand for a peaceful rally on May 25 came in response to the current government’s actions.
In response, he stated, It is denied that [Khan] ever meant to destabilize the current administration by storming Islamabad with the help of PTI workers. The [Khan] and the PTI leadership have always intended to hold a peaceful and legal demonstration without causing any damage to public or private property.
Khan blamed the anarchy in the city on the Punjab provincial government and the federal government.
He stated, I was never instructed or led to believe that this Honourable Court had forbidden peaceful political meetings in any site within the city, other than the region between Sector G-9 and H-9, in its oral ruling of 06:05pm on May 25,2022.
The former prime minister also denied the intelligence services’ reports, claiming that they contain assumptions and presumptions that are not warranted by the facts.
Khan stated that he has never supported nor promoted such behavior or any smear campaign against the court and state institutions, and that he never glamoured a habit of maligning the judiciary and state institutions.
