Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MPA Imran Ali Shah on Monday submitted a written apology to the Supreme Court for beating up a Karachi citizen but reiterated his claims that he hit the man in self-defence.

A video of Shah slapping a man had sparked outrage on social media after it went viral last week. Shah was caught on video slapping a man — identified as Dawood Chauhan — multiple times during a heated argument in the middle of a road. The video showed Shah accompanied by his armed guards who also threatened the man.

Subsequently, the PTI took notice of the incident, prompting Shah to post a video in which he sought an open apology for "hurting anyone's feelings", and insisting that he had only "pushed" Chauhan, even though the clip circulating on the internet had shown him raising his hand and hitting the man multiple times.

Shah further said that he had stepped out of his car after he saw Chauhan "repeatedly hitting a poor man's car" and added that he "could not stand back and watch 'injustice' take place like this". Shah later posted a video showing him hugging a man he had identified as 'Dawood'.

The PTI has since suspended Shah for a month while announcing that his case has been forwarded to the party's disciplinary committee.

In his latest statement, made in the apology to the SC, the PTI lawmaker claimed that Chauhan was hitting a car in a parking lot while the driver of the car was trying to save himself. He also alleged that Dawood Chauhan used derogatory and unacceptable language towards him.

"I feared that Dawood would inflict harm on me," the reply read. Shah argued that his response to the occurring was spontaneous and not premeditated.

What Dawood says

“I was going to a hospital on Stadium Road in my car with my grandsons,” said Dawood Chauhan while talking to a private news channel.

“I am a government servant. I was driving smoothly and most probably while driving I blocked the way of Dr Shah’s convoy. He intercepted my car when traffic slowed down at the signal, came out of his vehicle, switched off my car’s engine and seized the keys of my car. When I came out of the car Shah started beating me up. When I shouted at him and questioned him, he returned and his guards started beating me up.”

'Would he have apologised if my father was not friends with PTI leaders?'

Meanwhile, Facebook page It's all about Pakistan posted a statement attributed to Dawood Chauhan's son questioning the writ of the state.

The statement claimed that Dawood was a senior additional director of the Civil Aviation Authority and a friend of PTI MPA Firdaus Naqvi and MNA Najeeb Haroon.

The post questioned if Shah would still have visited Dawood and offered an apology "if he was not the friend of Firdous Shamim sahib and Najeeb Haroon sahib".

The post referred to Shah's apology video, saying that even if Chauhan had "bumped into another car and that man had exchanged some words with my father", Chauhan still had not launched a physical attack against Shah.

The statement clarified that Dawood did not associate Shah's actions with PTI, but went on to criticise the lack of action by law enforcing authorities.

The post also asked users if they would have "accepted the apology" had Chauhan been their father. "But again, what if it happened with your father, what would have been your status?"