The Islamabad High Court has postponed the indictment in the contempt case against Rana Shamim and others, setting January 7 as the new date for the arraignment.
On Tuesday, the IHC, led by Chief Justice Athar Minallah, heard the contempt case against Rana Shamim, the former chief judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court, and others in Islamabad.
The indictment in the case has been postponed until January 7. Rana Shamim committed contempt by drafting an affidavit against former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, according to Pakistan’s Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan, and he should confess and ask forgiveness.
If Rana Shamim apologized, the attorney general stated he, too, would ask the court to put a stop to any further actions against him. He was perplexed because knowledge about the location where the affidavit was recorded had been circulating in the media for the previous three days, but no rejection had come from Rana Shamim.
Rana Shamim claimed that a former Chief Justice of Pakistan was directing on the phone that Nawaz Sharif should not be granted bail before the 2018 general elections, according to Chief Justice Minallah. The IHC Chief Justice inquired journalist Nisar Abbasi about the number of benches constituted before and after the 2018 elections.
“After two weeks, the court granted relief to Nawaz Sharif. So what was the logic for him being released after the elections and not before,” the CJ pondered.
Justice Minallah commented that the beneficiary of Rana Shamim’s affidavit received relief from the same court and that the Islamabad High Court was now being painted as a tainted institution.
“The narrative is presented in such a way that everyone believes it to be true.” Saqib Nisar isn’t the only one involved in this situation. The story has cast doubt on the positions of two judges. He went on to say, “It’s a major thing.”
The CJ requested Rana Shamim and others to try to comprehend the affidavit’s implications. What if Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav filed an affidavit tomorrow stating that this court is tainted and that his case should not be heard here, he wondered?
The deputy chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council recommended that the court collect a declaration/affidavit from everyone concerned in the contempt case.
“Does it mean that the PBC is stating that what is mentioned in Rana Shamim’s affidavit is the truth!” the CJ wondered. If that was the case, he added, it implied the PBC was suspicious of every IHC judge. He requested that the bar council take a firmer stance on the issue.
Former GB chief judge Rana Shamim has already filed an affidavit with the Islamabad High Court.
Mr. Shamim was directed by the court to open the envelope containing the affidavit by himself.
Rana Shamim claimed that he had provided the sealed affidavit to his grandson, however, the affidavit was not sealed when it was sent to the courier service, according to Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan.
Mr Shamim verified that he had sealed the document and fastened this envelope.
Mr Shamim’s lawyer, Latif Afridi, was asked by Chief Justice Minallah what legal action his client had taken against journalist Ansar Abbasi, who had published the contents of the affidavit without his client’s agreement. “What do you think, Mr. Shamim’s privacy was not violated?” asked the CJ.
Mr Afridi stated that while Ansar Abbasi, as a journalist, had certain journalistic freedom, his client was unable to pursue legal action against him due to the pending contempt case.
When Justice Minallah inquired who was the beneficiary of this affidavit, the lawyer responded he didn’t know.
Even the beneficiary, according to the CJ, received redress from this court.
When a journalist asked Rana Shamim whether he notarized his affidavit in front of Nawaz Sharif or not during a press conference outside the IHC building before the hearing of the contempt case, he answered that he should address this issue to those who were saying it. He claimed he never showed or allowed anyone to see his affidavit.
He stated that his lawyers will take care of notifying journalist Nisar Abbasi, who published the article.
