SC issues contempt notice to cleric for threatening Justice Isa

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has turned down an unconditional apology of cleric Agha Iftikhar-ud-Din Mirza for slandering judiciary and threatening Justice Qazi Isa, issuing a contempt of court notice to him.

According to details, a two-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the case. The attorney general and the lawyer representing Mirza appeared before the court.

Mirza’s lawyer informed the court that his client has apologised unconditionally in this regard. The Chief Justice remarked that there was no room for mercy in the case.

Justice Ahsan said that the video was not made by a child but by Mirza himself. “Such words cannot be used against the judiciary. How can we accept an apology in such a case?” he added.

The top court observed that the cleric had a YouTube channel and he earned money through it. “Mirza accepted in front of the Federal Investigation Agency that he recorded the video in the presence of seven worshippers,” Justice Ahsan said.

Mirza’s lawyer informed that his client was a heart patient and should be forgiven. In this regard, Chief Justice said, “Mirza should have kept his tongue in check.”

The chief justice berated Mirza’s lawyer for not understanding the importance of the case. “You are taking the case lightly. We can send Mirza to jail for six months,” he added.

During the proceeding, the attorney general remarked that Mirza deliberately passed the comments by taking judges’ names, so it cannot be an unintentional move.

The two-member bench has directed the cleric Agha Iftikhar-ud-Din Mirza to respond in seven days and to personally appear in the next hearing. The case was adjourned until July 15.