ISLAMABAD: The electoral entity on Thursday considered the option of allowing “virtual appearance” to incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, as it resumed the contempt trial against Khan and former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry, despite that the related case remains pending in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Hearing the case, a four-member Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) bench asked the defence side if the option to allow the former PM to virtually appear before the commission through video link was permissible under the law.

The defence counsel responded that virtual appearance was allowed under the law. “Court can allow virtual attendance of the accused under Qanoon-e-Shahadat,” said the counsel, an associate of Khan’s main counsel Shoaib Shaheen in the case.

However, no decision was taken in this regard.

Shaheen could not appear before the bench due to his engagements in IHC, his associate informed the bench.

The ECP officials from the Law Wing admitted before the ECP bench that the IHC, this January, barred the commission from issuing a final decision in the contempt trial. The officials, however, insisted that the court did not stop the ECP from proceeding ahead with the trial.

An associate of Faisal Chaudhry, Fawad’s brother and main counsel in the case, informed the ECP bench that the two brothers were in the IHC in connection with a case against Fawad.

The ECP bench issued Fawad’s bailable arrest warrant for not showing up at the hearing, and adjourned the case till August 7.

This January, the poll entity indicted Khan and Fawad in the contempt case after the ECP bench members visited Adiala Jail Rawalpindi to separately indict the two politicians—an unprecedented move that attracted massive public backlash.

Before that, the bench members visited Adiala Jail last December for holding contempt trial against the former PM and the ex-minister.

Fawad was later released from jail.

The poll body decided to hold contempt trial in jail, instead of ECP headquarters, after the then caretaker federal government declined to accept the electoral entity’s order to bring Khan to the ECP in the contempt case, citing security reasons.

This attracted public criticism on the electoral body and the then caretaker government for their failure in ensuring foolproof security to the former PM for his trial at the ECP headquarters instead of jail.

In August 2022, the ECP issued contempt notices to Khan, Fawad and Asad Umar for their public criticism of the ECP and Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. Umar has urged the electoral body to drop contempt proceedings against him given that he has “quit politics.” The case remains pending.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024