Islamabad High Court Indicts Rana Shamim In Affidavit Case

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday indicted former Gilgit Baltistan (GB) chief judge Rana Shamim under contempt of court law on account of his allegations against ex-Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah who heard the case, however, decided not to frame charges against Jang Group owner Mir Shakeelur Rehman, and senior journalists Ansar Abbasi and Aamir Ghauri

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2022 ) :The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday indicted former Gilgit Baltistan (GB) chief judge Rana Shamim under contempt of court law on account of his allegations against ex-Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah who heard the case, however, decided not to frame charges against Jang Group owner Mir Shakeelur Rehman, and senior journalists Ansar Abbasi and Aamir Ghauri.

At the outset of hearing, AGP Khalid Jawed Khan requested the court to indict only Rana Shamim and defer the indictment of journalists.

Rana Shamim adopted the stance that he had filed two new pleas. He pleaded that he could not indicted under the contempt of court law until his allegations were proved false.

He prayed the court to conduct an independent inquiry into his affidavit and disassociate the AGP from the case.

However, the court dismissed the two pleas.

Framing the charges against Rana Shamim, the chief justice said the affidavit was notarized which had reached the media. The writer did not initiate any legal action against the notary public and journalist Ansar Abbasi on leaking his personal document.

He said the accused had tried to scandalize the court and delay the proceedings of pending appeals.

The chief justice observed that the could not give license to anyone to disrespect it. The allegations were against the IHC instead of Justice Saqib Nisar. In fact, it was an attempt to build a narrative against the court.

The accused Rana Shamim denied the charge sheet and requested the court to provide its copy.

Justice Athar Minallah asked the accused to submit written comments in his defence.

The court observed that it would also frame charges against other three accused if it were proved that publishing of the news story was a pre-planned act.

Earlier, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists also requested the court to exercise tolerance with regard to the journalists.

It may be mentioned that the IHC had initiated the contempt of court case after the news story based on Rana Shamim's affidavit was published in an English daily newspaper, accusing ex-CJP Saqib Nisar of instructing an IHC judge on telephone regarding the cases of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif and her daughter Maryam Nawaz.

The case was adjourned till February 15.

Meanwhile, a bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir also dismissed the intra court appeal seeking to stop alleged character assassination of Rana Shamim.