Islamabad | Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the anti-corruption watchdog to produce former prime minister Imran Khan within an hour as it observed that the agency committed "contempt of court" by entering the court premises and arresting him without permission from the court's registrar.

The directive was issued by a three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah, which heard Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman's plea against his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case on Tuesday.

The bench during the hearing expressed anger at the way 70-year-old Khan was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court where he had come from Lahore for a case.

"What dignity remains of the court if 90 people entered its premises? How can any individual be arrested from court premises?” the chief justice was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.

"In the past, action has been taken against lawyers for vandalism inside the court,” he observed. "If an individual has surrendered to the court, then what does arresting them mean?" The top judge said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had committed "contempt of court".

"They should have taken permission from the court's registrar before the arrest. Court staffers were also subjected to abuse,” he added.

The bench directed NAB to produce Khan by 4:30 pm (local time) when the court would reconvene.