ECP adjourns hearing in Imran case for one last time

New counsel Babar Awan seeks more time to file Imran’s response

ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza on Tuesday expressed dismay over the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) seeking yet another adjournment in contempt proceedings against party chief Imran Khan.

As the case again came up for hearing on Tuesday, Babar Awan appeared before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to defend Imran in the contempt plea filed by founding PTI member Akbar S Babar.

Instead of filing a long-awaited response from the PTI chief, Awan pleaded for more time on the grounds that being new to the case, he needed time to draft and file a fresh response.



The ECP bench inquired about the new lawyer’s legal brief for representation, to which he responded that it would be submitted in due course. The bench observed that Awan is the latest in a long list of lawyers who represented Imran in this case, but a response is still awaited.

Justice (retd) Raza, the CEC, expressed dismay over the PTI requesting yet another adjournment request, and expressed his intent to pass an order in the case on Wednesday (today), irrespective of a response being filed or not.

However, on repeated requests from the PTI lawyer, the CEC adjourned the case, for passing an order, until next Monday.



Imran had been issued contempt notices by the ECP earlier this year after he accused the commission of being biased in the foreign funding case.

Awan is the fifth lawyer to defend Imran against contempt charges in the ECP. Having recently resigned from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and his Senate seat, this would be Awan’s first high-profile case after joining the PTI. He has represented former PM Benazir Bhutto and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in several corruption cases.