ISLAMABAD: The Constitutional Bench (CB) of the Supreme Court will commence a contempt case on March 21 against PTI founder Imran Khan for allegedly reneging on earlier assurances regarding the May 25, 2022, Azadi March events.

A five-judge CB, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, will hear the government’s petition seeking contempt of court proceedings against the PTI leadership, including Imran Khan, for allegedly disregarding categorical assurances to confine the May 25 Azadi March to the designated H-9/G-9 ground instead of proceeding to D-Chowk.

Other bench members are Justices Jamal Mandokhail, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Hashim Kakar and Aamir Farooq.

The petition was filed on May 25, 2022, after the PTI long march reached D-Chowk instead of the designated location. On Nov 16, 2022, Imran Khan had requested the Supreme Court to close the contempt case, denying reports submitted by law enforcement agencies, including the ISI, IB and ICT Police, which alleged that he intentionally or willfully disobeyed, disregarded, or flouted the court’s May 25 directions.

Govt petition alleges PTI leadership violated 2022 march assurances

His reply also stated that the reports confirmed the apex court had issued verbal orders at 6:05pm on May 25, which were not and could not have been directly communicated to him by his counsel, Babar Awan or Faisal Fareed, as the written order was made available on May 26.

The 23-page reply was submitted to the SC in response to its Nov 7, 2022, directive to file fresh replies addressing allegations by Additional Attorney General Chaudhry Aamir Rehman that the PTI leadership violated assurances given to the court on May 25 to confine the march to the designated ground between sectors G-9/H-9 and not proceed to D-Chowk.

The reply filed through counsel Salman Akram Raja explained that on that day, some TV channels carried reports regarding the court order during their programmes between 6:05pm and 6:45pm.

The government questioned how many times Imran Khan would be allowed to make incorrect statements before a contempt notice was issued.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2025