Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by the federal government for seeking contempt proceedings against PTI Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan for “violating” the apex court’s orders with regard to the party’s Azadi March. 

A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial has heard the petition which was filed by Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf. It said that the apex court’s orders from Wednesday would remain in place, even though judgment details will be given later.

A day earlier, the Supreme Court ordered the federal government and the PTI to constitute respective negotiating committees and meet at 10pm on Wednesday to finalize modalities for a peaceful and safe conduct of the party’s long march to the capital Islamabad, which didn’t take place.

Instead Imran Khan (in the pic above, from his Twitter profile) by attending in a massive rally at 9th Avenue gave a 6-days’ ultimatum for government to resign, dissolve parliament and called an election in June, otherwise he will return with “whole nation”.

Similar rallies concurrently took place in Lahore and Karachi, two major cities.