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LONDON: Former Gilgit-Baltistan chief justice Rana Shamim has signed an affidavit in the office of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, according to a report published in a private newspaper.
In the ‘leaked’ affidavit, Shamim allegedly stated that Nisar during his visit to GB made a call to an IHC judge and asked him to ensure that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz are not released on bail before July 25, 2018 general elections. The affidavit was published as part of an investigative report by The News on Nov 15.
On the orders of the court, the original affidavit was submitted a whole month after it was allegedly created. According to Rana Shamim’s statement before the IHC, he did not provide the copy or affidavit to the journalist who published the story and his affidavit was in a safe in London.
According to the report, Charles Guthrie – a UK Solicitor – confirmed that ‘Judge Guy’ was at ‘Marble Arch’. The report stated that Rana Shamim tried to incriminate former Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and honourable sitting judges of Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The report further stated Stanhope Place, Marble arch was listed on Companies House records as one of the offices of Flagship Developments Limited, of which Hasan Nawaz Sharif is one of the directors and it has been the central meeting point of a lot of PML-N leadership in London with Mian Nawaz Sharif.
Rana Shamim has never answered the question about his meeting with the PML-N supremo. However, according to report, Charles Guthrie himself confirms that the Judge was present in the Marble arch.
“Charles Guthrie has confirmed three times, that Rana Shamim was present at Marble Arch,” the report added. Guthrie stated in the evidence that “the judge guy was in Nawaz Sharif’s office.” When asked in the evidence “That was which office? Like here in London?”, Guthrie responded “Marble Arch.”
Government’s reaction
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday morning shared an image of the news report on Twitter.
راناشمیم نے جسٹس ثاقب نثار اور اسلام آباد ہائیکورٹ کے جج صاحبان کیخلاف حلف نامہ نواز شریف کے دفتر میں ان کے سامنے Notarise کرایا،نئےانکشافات نےایک بار پھر شریف فیملی کو سیسیلین مافیا ثابت کیا ہے کہ کس طرح وہ ایک مافیا کی طرح عدالتوں سمیت اداروں کو بلیک میل کرنےکی صلاحیت رکھتےہیں pic.twitter.com/MBPx0V1jpY
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) December 26, 2021
“New revelations have once again proved that how the Sharif family is capable of blackmailing institutions, including the courts, like a Sicilian mafia,” the federal minister wrote on his official Twitter handle.
The court hearing
During the last hearing on Dec 20, the additional attorney general informed the court that Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan was admitted in Aga Khan University Hospital and would return by Thursday.
Meanwhile, Lateef Afridi, Shamim’s legal counsel, informed the court that the affidavit had been submitted to the IHC and the former judge has been “standing by his statement since the first day”.
“The real affidavit was sealed and has now been brought to Pakistan on the court’s order,” he said. Justice Minallah said the sealed envelope was in its original condition and had not been opened by the court yet.
Justice Minallah then turned to Shamim’s counsel and asked him to open the envelope, upon which the counsel said that a new inquiry could be started by opening a sealed envelope.
“This is an open inquiry. This is our accountability,” the judge said. He added that Shamim had apparently made “a very big statement without any evidence” and given an impression that all IHC judges were “compromised”. Afridi said his client maintained that he did not “leak” the affidavit.
“Can a finger be pointed at any judge of this court? The court will not ask the journalist about the source of his news. This court is hearing many important cases related to fundamental rights,” Justice Minallah remarked.
“This court will not deviate from the law,” Justice Minallah remarked. He added that the next hearing would be held on Thursday. However, Afridi said he would not be able to attend the hearing on that date.
Justice Minallah observed that freedom of expression was one of the most important fundamental rights — which the court had also mentioned in its judgements — but the situation was different when freedom of expression was not in the public interest.
Subsequently, Afridi requested the court to adjourn the hearing until after winter vacations were over. However, Justice Minallah observed that the IHC had not issued any notification about vacations. The hearing was adjourned till December 28.
