LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday asked a petitioner to submit the transcript of a conversation of Prime Minister Imran Khan for which he had sought contempt proceedings against the PM.

Justice Ali Baqar Najafi also directed Advocate Farhat Manzoor Chandio, the petitioner, to come up with arguments on the maintainability of the petition on the next hearing.

Earlier, a law officer opposed the petition and asked the court to dismiss it for being not maintainable.

The petitioner-lawyer contended that PM Khan, in a recent television programme, responding to telephone calls of the citizens, had accused judges of the superior courts of favouring former PM Nawaz Sharif by allowing him to travel abroad without indemnity bonds.

The lawyer argued that PM Khan also tried to blame the courts for the poor performance of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

He said the prime minister had committed a violation of the Constitution, which prohibits contemptuous remarks against the judiciary. He asked the court to initiate proceedings against the prime minister under the contempt of court law.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2021