IHC defers indictment in Rana Shamim affidavit case till Jan 20

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday adjourned the hearing of a contempt of court case against former chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Rana Shamim and several journalists till January 20.

The IHC had in the last hearing decided to indict the former GB chief judge and others in a contempt of court case pertaining to the publication of an affidavit containing serious allegations that ex-chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar attempted to influence a case against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz.

At the outset of today’s proceedings, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah told journalist Ansar Abbasi that the court had received his plea of a clerical error in the order. “Tell me, what clerical error is there in the order?”

The journalist told the IHC CJ that in the order, the court had quoted him as saying that even if a claim was wrong, he would publish it in the interest of the masses.

Responding to the journalist, the IHC CJ said: “In your application, you yourself had written that you were not aware whether his (Shamim’s) claim against Nisar was true or not.”

The judge asked Abbasi whether he would publish an affidavit solely on the basis of a prominent personality handing it to him.

“The prevalent narrative is that Saqib Nisar had influenced a judge in a case. However, the said judge was not even part of the bench [which tried Nawaz and Maryam].”

“Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and I were part of that bench […] and [in light of the news story], it seems like we had been influenced,” he said.

If an inquiry is held, it will take place against the judges who were part of the bench, Justice Minallah said.

The IHC CJ told Abbasi that throughout the entire proceedings, he had tried to explain to the journalist what he had done.

“Take a look at past newspapers and see what you have published.”

“The story was published two days before appeals in the case were to be heard,” he pointed out.

‘Nobody knows importance of ongoing case’

At this, Abbasi said Shamim will have to answer to the court regarding his affidavit.

Insisting that he had followed journalistic principles, Abbasi said he had published the former GB judge’s claim along with Nisar’s rebuttal.

The IHC CJ said he respected the right to freedom of expression and that he did not care about the criticism directed towards him.

“Nobody knows about the importance of the ongoing case in the court. Sometimes things are done unintendedly; this is the second contempt of court case I am hearing in my judicial career.”

The IHC CJ also pointed out to Abbasi that his case was sub judice, yet he was still publishing statements from international institutions. At this, the journalist said he believes that the court should not frame charges.

It is pertinent to mention here that Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and other journalist organisations had urged the IHC to halt contempt proceedings against the journalists.

“You will not decide this, the court will; you cannot dictate the court,” Justice Minallah said.

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