The chief justice made the remarks during a hearing of a petition challenging the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority's (PEMRA) ban on live broadcasts of Imran Khan's speeches. In a PTI show of power in Faisalabad on Sunday, Imran Khan had asked why the coalition government would be scared of calling general elections if not for the appointment of the next chief of army staff.
“The second reason is that the new army chief is coming in November. Zardari and Nawaz want to appoint their favourite as they have plundered the national coffers,” he said, adding, “They are afraid of a patriotic army as such an individual will hold them accountable.”
CJ Minallah asked, "Was the statement given at a the gathering constitutional and right?" Addressing Khan's counsel, Barrister Ali Zafar, the CJ asked if he had heard his client's speech from last night. "Do politicians deliver such speeches? Will everything be put at stake just for the sake of a Game of Thrones," he asked referring to the popular television show.
Noting that the armed forces sacrificed and staked their lives for the country, Minallah asked, "Do you want to hurt the morale of the army by giving anti-army statements? Do you think that anyone in the army is not a patriot?" Informing Khan's lawyer that public statements have their own consequences, he disposed off the PTI petition, and instructed PEMRA to regulate Khan's speeches as per the Supreme Court's rulings.