A Pakistani court docket has acquitted former Prime Minister Imran Khan within the case associated with his unlawful marriage, based on Pakistani media studies Saturday. Nonetheless, Khan was not freed as he’s being held for additional investigation on prices of fomenting riots. The Islamabad District and Sessions Court docket “dismissed charges” towards Khan within the Iddat case, however what got here into extensive public discover was that the official order announcing the acquittal of Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi, was written in ‘Comic Sans’ font.
court documents in comic sans…Pakistan..pls https://t.co/z7GmsZTKD2
— Ayesha A. Siddiqi (@AyeshaASiddiqi) July 13, 2024
Yes, you read that right. Comic Sans in a statutory document? Good enough to catch the eye, eagle-eyed readers noticed this rather queer font choice, leading to a wave of amusement online. The court order went viral within no time with a user pointing out, “Court documents in comic sans…Pakistan.pls.” Another mentioned, “The way this country is so not serious”, whereas the third one asked, “Why that font???” IS THIS THE LEVEL OF DOCUMENTATION IN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN??? “”” A fourth simply said “””Comic Sans? Can’t be real…”””
Although there is no kind of font style that is officially declared to be used for legal documents, it is usually Arial, Times New Roman, Century, and Verdana, and Courier New that are in use throughout all instances because of readability and the approval of the courts. The surprising thing was the use of Comic Sans.
Actually, this is not the first time when fonting mistakes have been criticized in Pakistan. Ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted in 2017 by the Supreme Court over a font scandal. Dubbed “Fontgate”, the scandal erupted when a document delivered by Sharif’s family in an attempt to clear the prime minister of any ownership in a slew of high-end London properties was found to be forged, featuring a font, Calibri, not commercially available at the time a document it supposedly dated from February 2006 was written in. That led to headlines and social media quips declaring Pakistan was now “Sans Sharif.”
While the news of Imran Khan’s acquittal itself was serious, the Comic Sans incident added light-hearted, ironic color to it.
