IHC rejects apology of ex-GB chief justice Rana Shamim in contempt case
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has refused to accept the former GB chief justice, Rana Shamim Ahmed Khan’s apology and gave him a last chance to submit a list of witnesses to support his allegations against former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar.
Rana Shamim Ahmed Khan, the former chief judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan, went before the high court with his attorney Abdul Latif Afridi and offered an apology, but the court didn’t take it into consideration.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah of the IHC noted that Mr. Shamim had not reneged on his accusations or denied the information included in an affidavit he signed in London in November of last year.
Justice Minallah warned Mr. Shamim during the hearing on Wednesday that if he failed to substantiate the claims, it would be “a grave contempt,” and that the court would only accept his apology if he could show that the affidavit’s statements were written as a result of miscommunication, misunderstanding, or confusion.
The high court cited a ruling by a seven-judge panel of the Supreme Court that established a number of guidelines for handling cases of contempt of court, including the issue of an apology and pardon.
It is worth mentioning that the issue first came to light last year when a newspaper reported on Mr. Shamim’s affidavit, alleging that former Chief Justice of Pakistan Nisar had called an IHC judge and requested that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz not be released from prison until after the 2018 elections.
