IHC reserves verdict on contempt plea against Maryam Nawaz

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday reserved its verdict on a petition seeking initiation of contempt of court proceedings against PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for scandlising the judiciary.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the petition filed by lawyer Kulsoom Khaliq, who requested the court to take action against the PML-N leaders under contempt of court laws for “their intention to insult the judiciary”.

The top IHC judge remarked that the status of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar after his retirement is of an ordinary citizen. “Judges should have a big heart as they sit at an exalted position,” he remarked,

The petitioner stated that Abbasi had questioned that “if Nawaz Sharif can go to jail, then why cannot Saqib Nisar”. The lawyer said PML-N leaders used insulting words against the judiciary and attempted to bring it to disrepute. The lawyer pleaded with the high court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against them for “violating the dignity of justice”.

Earlier this month, PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi demanded that a suo motu notice be taken against former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar after a audio emerged of him denying bail to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz ahead of the 2018 general elections.

“If Mian Nawaz Sharif can go to jail, why can’t Mian Saqib Nisar?”. He posed the question during a press conference alongside other PML-N leaders, saying the Supreme Court should take suo motu notice of the matter now that fingers had been pointed at a former top judge in the report.

ON Wednesday, Maryam Nawaz termed the alleged audio clip of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar a charge sheet against him. She said that Saqib Nisar will have to speak the truth one day and tell the nation why he unjustly sentenced the three-time prime minister.

She said that first former CJP denied any connection with the clip and said that it is not him who can be heard in the audio. Then, he said that his audio from various occasions had been spliced together to create the clip.

Maryam said that as soon as the audio came out, propaganda regarding the clip began to prove that the clip was doctored despite the fact that a very renowned American company did the forensic analysis of the clip. They have clearly stated that the clip has not been edited in any way, she added. The PML-N leader demanded to know which speech those bits, where ex-CJP is talking about sentencing PML-N leaders, were from.