The Islamabad High Court has deferred forming charges against former Gilgit-Baltistan judge Rana Shamim till December 20.
Justice (retd) Shamim had claimed in the affidavit, recorded allegedly on November 10, that three years ago the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Nisar ordered the lower judiciary to delay the release of Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz until after the 2018 general elections. The contents of the alleged affidavit were published by The News.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah took notice of the report by The News and initiated contempt of court proceedings on November 16.
On Monday, the court resumed hearing of the contempt case related to the publication of an affidavit in which Rana Shamim accused ex-chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar of denying bail to PML-N leaders.
Justice Athar Minallah has, once again, instructed the former GB judge to present the original copy of the affidavit in court. At the previous hearing, Rana Shamim was told to submit the original document or face charges.
During the proceeding on Monday, senior journalist Ansar Abbasi, Jang Group editor Amer Ghouri, and Attorney General Khalid Jawed were present.
At the beginning of the hearing, Justice Minallah asked why a newspaper would publish something which could “tarnish the image” of a top judge.
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) secretary-general Nasir Zaidi, who is the impartial advisor to the court in the case, said that a journalist’s responsibility is to publish a news story on the basis of facts.
Justice Minallah replied that the news story gives an impression that the judge takes directions from other people. “The story should have mentioned that the judge [Saqib Nisar] was on leave during those days.”
“The public’s trust in this court has been damaged by one news [report],” he said.
Justice Minallah also recalled that Rana Shamim had said that the affidavit was never given to anyone. To this, Ansar Abbasi replied that Rana Shamim never told him that the affidavit was not supposed to be published.
The court, consequently, directed the journalist to read the news story and state whatever he wanted to say in a counter-affidavit.
At the previous hearing, Shamim had claimed that he had given the affidavit to his grandson in a sealed envelope with instructions that it shouldn’t be opened or made public. “If my intention was contempt of court, I would have has recorded my affidavit in Pakistan and given it to the media,” he said.
The former GB chief justice has said that he had no idea who gave it to the reporter. “I don’t know how it got leaked” to the journalist, he had said.
AGP presses IHC to set date for indictment
During the proceeding, AGP Khalid Jawed urged the court to set a date for the indictment of Rana Shamim.
“The court had given him [former GB judge] the last chance to present the original affidavit today,” he said, adding that Rana Shamim voiced concerns of affidavit being leaked after leaking it himself.
Last week, the Interior Ministry placed former Gilgit-Baltistan chief justice Rana Shamim’s name on the Federal Investigation Agency’s Provisional National Identification List or PNIL, a 30-day temporary travel restriction introduced in 2018 as an alternative to ECL.
“The government is preparing to put him on the Exit Control List as well,” he revealed at a media briefing Wednesday. “This is a very serious matter as it has jeopardized the credibility of the judiciary.”
from SAMAA https://ift.tt/3Gyyan2
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