The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is scheduled to resume hearing on Thursday the contempt of court case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for threatening a female District and Sessions Judge, Zeba Chaudhry

A five-member bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah will hear the case at 2:30 pm. The PTI chairman will appear before the court in person amid strict security.

Hours before the proceeding, Khan filed a new plea at the high court. He argued that the high court cannot exercise suo moto jurisdiction as per the Constitution. The arguments on the inadmissibility of the contempt case should be kept on record.

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“The written arguments will also be explained in the oral arguments during the course of the proceedings,” read the plea.

A day earlier to the proceedings, Khan submitted a fresh response to the contempt of court case, in which in he expressed deep regret for his words.

In a 19-page-long document, Khan told the court that it should discharge the notice based on his explanation and follow the Islamic principles of forgiveness.

“That the purpose of the contempt law is not to punish anyone but to uphold the majesty of law. The respondent [Khan] believes in the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution,” the response said.

“The respondent takes this opportunity to express his deep regrets over his unintentional utterances during the course of his speech at a rally which was taken out in response to the shocking news of the physical torture of Shahbaz Gill.”

However, the submitted reply fell short of offering an unconditional apology.

IHC on August 31 had directed the former prime minister to resubmit his response, giving him seven days to hand in the new draft. During the proceedings, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had said he was “disappointed” by the written response submitted by Khan. He asked him to review it and submit it once more.