Contempt case: Imran Khan requests SC to end court proceedings

• Imran Khan says he was unaware of court order related to May 25. 
• "We regret taking this step unintentionally," says PTI chief. 
• Says it was always his intent to conduct peaceful and lawful rallies.

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan requested the Supreme Court to end the contempt of court proceedings related to the events of May 25, 2022, which transpired during the party's first long march.

The former prime minister's lawyer Salman Akram Raja submitted a 23-page reply to the Supreme Court. The court had sought an explanation from the PTI chief earlier this month in the contempt case. 

The federal government filed a contempt of court plea against the PTI chairman in the Supreme Court over his long march to the federal capital.

Khan, in his reply, said he did not disobey the Supreme Court's order deliberately and that he was unaware of the order related to the May 25 events.  

Khan said that the Supreme Court in its order also asked advocate Babar Awan to meet him, however, the administration did not facilitate a meeting. 

"We regret taking this step unintentionally," said the PTI chief, adding that the May 25 call for a peaceful protest was against the incumbent government's behaviour. 

"It is denied that [Khan] has ever intended to dislodge the incumbent government by storming the city of Islamabad with the support of PTI workers," he wrote in his reply, adding that "it was always the intent of the [Khan] and the leadership of the PTI to conduct a peaceful and lawful rally without causing any damage to public or private property."

Khan blamed the federal government and the provincial government of Punjab for causing chaos in the city. 

He added that he was "never informed or led to believe that this Honourable Court had, through its verbal order of 06:05pm on 25.05.2022, barred peaceful political gatherings at any part of the city apart from the ground between the Sector G-9 and H-9."

The former PM also denied the reports by intelligence agencies, saying that they "contain inferences and presumptions not supported by the facts".

Khan also said that he has "neither 'glamoured a trend of maligning the judiciary and state institutions' nor has he condoned or encouraged such behaviour or any smear campaign against the judiciary and the state institutions."