‘Willing to apologise’: Khan again avoided unconditional apology for his controversial remarks against female judge

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan submitted an affidavit to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a contempt of court case against him, saying he had realised he “Might have crossed a line” in his controversial remarks regarding Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry.

However, it is pertinent to mention that, for the third time now, Khan has avoided tendering an unconditional apology to the court.

The affidavit says: “Imran Khan realised that during these proceedings before the Honourable Court, he might have crossed a red line while making a public speech on August 20, 2022.”

According to the document, it was never his intention “To threaten the honourable judge of the district court and there was no intention behind the statement to take any action other than a legal action.”

He said he wanted to assure the IHC that he was willing to explain and clarify before Judge Chaudhry that “Neither he nor his party seeks/sought any action“ against her and he was willing apologise to her “If she got an impression that the deponent (Imran) had crossed a line”.

Khan assured the IHC that he would “Never do anything in future” that would hurt the dignity of any court and the judiciary, especially the lower judiciary.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled for October 3, when IHC will review Khan’s response.

Prior to this, Khan went to the court of Zeba Chaudhry to apologise for his remarks against her at a public rally. She was on leave at the time.

Earlier this month, the high court decided to frame charges against Khan in a contempt of court case registered against him for his controversial remarks about Zeba.

However, after many delays, Khan apologised to the high court, saying, “Mai khaatoon judge se zaati taur pe maafi maangta hoon”, (I personally apologise to the female judge).

Following this, the high court remarked that it would not be appropriate to conduct contempt proceedings against Khan.

In August, Khan addressed a party rally to express solidarity with then-arrested PTI’s Shahbaz Gill and threatened Chaudhry. He said, “Zeba! Be ready, we will take action against you”.