The bench issued notices to 34 TV channels for airing derogatory speeches and instructed them to respond within two weeks. It also asked Pemra to come up with its response regarding the ban on reporting court proceedings.

Khan had challenged the tweaks in the NAB laws and the top court in September last year had accepted his plea which reopened dozens of cases of alleged corruption against some leading politicians, including Khan’s arch-rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif.

The apex court also allowed other PTI leaders, Umar Aslam, Tahir Sadiq, Sanam Javed, and Shaukat Basra to contest the upcoming general elections.

The judgment angered the country’s powerful army that has ruled over Pakistan for most the period since its existence. It was the first time a former top military official had faced such a sentence for treason in Pakistan.