Hamid Khan, lawyer for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding president Imran Khan, attacked the judiciary, prompting a rebuke from Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail during a Supreme Court hearing on Monday.
The court, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, adjourned hearing of a petition filed by former PTI president Imran Khan on fraud allegations related to the 2024 general elections.
The six-member court adjourned the case indefinitely to give the petitioner’s lawyer more time to address objections raised by the court clerk.
During the hearing, Hamid Khan criticized the judiciary for not suo motu taking into account election-related issues, calling it “weak”. In response, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail advised the senior lawyer to be careful with his language and told him: “You are a senior lawyer; Choose your words carefully.”
The court highlighted the procedural complexities and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar advised the petitioner’s lawyer to come prepared for the upcoming hearing. Justice Mandokhail also questioned whether the entire election could be considered flawed, pointing to the possible need for separate investigations in each constituency.
Hamid Khan argued that the court had jurisdiction under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, but the court reminded him of the need to exhaust relevant forums before approaching the high court.
The court granted Hamid Khan time to address the registrar’s objections.
PTI to challenge Al-Qadir Trust ruling
Meanwhile, the PTI is set to challenge the ruling in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case before the high court on January 21 (Tuesday), saying the decision is “controversial” and that party founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were “unjustly” convicted.
PTI Central Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram confirmed on Sunday that the party would file an appeal to overturn what he called an “egregious miscarriage of justice”.
He hopes that the names of former PTI supremo Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi will be cleared in the first hearing, deploring the sentence as “a blatant travesty of justice driven by political motivations and fabricated allegations”.
The decision to appeal was made following a central committee meeting that reviewed the legal and political ramifications of the verdict amid ongoing negotiations with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The committee backed party president Barrister Gohar Khan’s announcement that talks with the PML-N-led coalition would continue till the deadline set for a government response to the PTI’s demands.
