Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday served notices to former prime minister Imran Khan, as well as his party colleagues Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar, in a contempt case moved by Pakistan's federal electoral watchdog.
The Election Commission of Pakistan previously asked the top federal court to transfer and clubbing of the six contempt cases against leaders from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in different courts to a single court.
Khan and his associates challenged the contempt charges in at least three courts, labeling the charges as “unconstitutional” and seeking relief from them during the hearings.
Sajeel Sheryar Swati, the lawyer for the Election Commission, told a three-judge bench that federal law accords the electoral watchdog with the same power as the high court in invoking contempt charges when it may deem fit, as per reports.
Swati also said that the Election Commission has made similar prayers demanding clubbing and the transfer of all the contempt cases to a single court at the relevant high courts.
Khan was accused of making “baseless allegations” against the constitutional watchdog during his addresses on five occasions in between July 18 and August 10, per media reports. It has levelled contempt charges against Umar and Chaudhry, both formerly federal ministers under Khan.
The cricketer-turned-politician has been critical of the Election Commission during his public meetings following his ouster in April and has alleged that its chief Raja has been working at the behest of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The Election Commission last month disqualified Khan from holding his federal National Assembly hometown seat of Mianwali on alleged corruption charges related to protocol surrounding gifts from foreign dignitaries. The decision was successfully challenged by Khan in the Islamabad High Court, which ordered a stay on holding a fresh election from the same constituency.