ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday has decided to initiate formal contempt proceedings against Jang Group journalist Ansar Abbasi, media owner Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and former top judge of the Gilgit Appellate Court Rana Shamim who accused former CJP Saqib Nisar of pressuring to keep former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam in prison till the general elections of 2018.

The court heard the suo motu case regarding the notice of an affidavit submitted by Rana Shamim and issued show-cause notices to the parties and directed them to file a written response within a week and adjourned the hearing till November 26, BOL News reported.

Ex-CJ GB Rana Shamim’s son, who is a lawyer by profession, appeared before the court on behalf of the former judge.

Note that a scandalous report published in The News yesterday claimed that former Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Justice Rana Muhammad Shamim had said in a notarized affidavit that he was a witness to the event when the former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar had directed a High Court judge that Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz should not be released on bail at any cost before the 2018 general elections.

After that, the Islamabad High Court had summoned former Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Justice Rana Shamim, author of the report Ansar Abbasi, editor of The News Amir Ghouri and Editor-in-Chief of Jang Group Mir Shakil- ur-Rahman today.

During the hearing, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah called Mir Shakil- ur-Rahman to the rostrum and said, “We summoned you with a heavy heart as freedom of the press is very important, but respect for the court must also be taken into account.”

Justice Athar Minallah said, “If the people lose confidence in the court, then there will be chaos and unfortunately that is what you have done.”

Justice Athar Minallah while talking to Mir Shakil and journalist Ansar Abbasi said, “You should read the headline of  The News.” On which Ansar Abbasi read the headline of his news in the courtroom.

After which, Justice Athar Minallah said that this is not a criticism but an attack on the court.

Justice Athar Minallah further said that the affidavit was given by such a big newspaper without examining the important facts. “If any Chief Justice says such a thing in front of me, I will immediately write to the Supreme Judicial Council,” said the Judge.

He said that such mysterious affidavits are published, “hold us accountable but do not stand in the way of justice”.

Journalist Ansar Abbasi told the court, “I am a journalist, I am a messenger,” to which the chief justice said, “Can the Guardian allow such an affidavit to be published in London?”

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