The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday again deferred the indictment of PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the contempt case, with the ex-premier now expected to be charged at the next hearing on August 22.

The ECP had initiated contempt proceedings against the PTI chief, party leader Asad Umar and former information minister Chaudhry last year for allegedly using “intemperate” language against the chief election commissioner and the electoral watchdog.

However, instead of appearing before the ECP, the three had challenged the ECP notices and contempt proceedings in various high courts on the grounds that Section 10 of the Elections Act 2017, which is the statutory provision regarding the commission’s power to punish for contempt, was against the Constitution. The PTI leaders had also sought from the high courts a declaratory relief from the charges.

But in January, the Supreme Court had allowed the ECP to continue proceedings against Imran, Chaudhry and Umar, and on June 21, the ECP had decided to frame charges against the trio.

In July, the three did not appear before the commission despite being summoned, following which the ECP issued arrest warrants for Chau­dhry and Imran. It had, however, accepted a plea by Umar’s lawyer to allow him an exemption from the hearing.

Subsequently, the electoral watchdog had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Imran on July 24 and asked the Islamabad police chief to arrest and present him before the commission.

The very next day, the PTI chief had appeared before the election watchdog for the first time since August last year when the case was initiated. As he appeared before the four-member ECP bench, the non-bailable arrest warrants against the former premier were suspended.

ECP member from Sindh Nisar Durrani had put off the indictment till Aug 2 after Shoaib Shaheen, representing Imran Khan, requested an adjournment till September.

The PTI chief was not present for today’s hearing, during which Shaheen filed an application seeking exemption from personal appearance on Imran’s behalf.

Shaheen told the ECP that his client had gone to the hospital for a medical check-up. He added that his client was appearing before the courts on a daily basis.

At this, ECP member retired Justice Ikramullah Khan pointed out that Imran was supposed to be indicted during today’s hearing. “How can we accept a plea seeking exemption from personal appearance?” he asked.

Shaheen then said that the charges against Imran had not yet been proven as he urged the ECP to adjourn the hearing. The lawyer argued that he had not yet been provided the case record.

The hearing was subsequently adjourned till August 22.

Notice regarding PTI’s intra-party elections

Separately, the ECP also issued a notice to the PTI chief to appear before the commission at the ECP Secretariat in Islamabad on Friday at 10am regarding the PTI not holding its intra-party elections.

It warned that a failure to appear may lead to the ECP declaring the PTI ineligible to obtain an election symbol for future elections.

The notice said the PTI’s intra-party elections were due on June 13, 2021, adding that the party had not held them despite a one-year’s extension till June 13, 2022.

It said that according to the Elections Act, every political party was bound to provide a certificate regarding intra-party polls to the ECP, failing which the commission could declare the party ineligible for an election symbol.

Earlier last month, the PTI sought to retain the ‘bat’ as its election symbol for the upcoming general election and had formally submitted an application to the ECP to this effect.