‘Defaming command of Pakistan Army’: IHC quashes case against Imaan Mazari-Hazir

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) quashed a case registered against a lawyer, Imaan Mazari-Hazir for allegedly “abusing and defaming the senior command of the Pakistan Army.”

A single bench of Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the petition of Imaan praying before the court to quash the FIR registered against her by the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces and directed to quash the case after she expressed “regret” over her earlier remarks against the institution and the army chief.

The Pakistan Army had filed a first information report against Imaan for “abusing and defaming” the army and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The petitioner was booked under sections 505 and 138 (abetment of act of insubordination by soldier) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

During the hearing, the chief justice accepted Imaan’s application against the registration of the case against her and remarked that Imaan had already expressed regret for what she had said earlier.

Advocate Zainab Janjua, representing Imaan, argued that her client had said on the first day of the trial that her words were not justified.

IHC grants pre-arrest bail to Imaan Mazari

Upon that Justice Minallah said that Imaan is an officer of the court and she should not have spoken such words and asked the petitioner’s counsel what more did he want now that Imaan had apologized.

The counsel for the Defence Ministry said that Imaan should apologize for her statement in the press. However, the IHC chief justice said that the advocate had apologized to the court and one should also keep in mind the circumstances regarding Imaan’s mother on the day the statement was made.

The ministry’s counsel said that Imaan was like a daughter to him but her previous conduct should also be looked at. Her lawyer then stated that they became part of the investigation despite having reservations about the court’s directives.

However, the counsel for the JAG branch argued that the word forgiveness was not mentioned even once in the reply submitted by Mazari. He added that if she has to apologize, she should do so in front of the media.

Later, the chief justice accepted Imaan’s petition and issued the direction to quash the case against her.

Imaan in her petition contended that the allegations against her were “baseless”.

She stated that on 21.05.2022, her mother became the subject of an unlawful arrest, which left her distraught. “The petitioner had been informed by her mother, in advance of this illegal arrest, that the latter had been involved in a couple of heated altercations with the Chief of Army Staff, though the Petitioner had no knowledge of the content of the conversations,” said the petitioner.

It added, “More importantly, the petitioner had been warned by her mother that something untoward may occur to the latter on account of these exchanges. Therefore, she had reason to believe that the sudden nature of her mother’s illegal arrest could be linked to her mother’s falling-out with the COAS. This suspicion that someone influential was behind the arrest was strengthened by the bizarre attitude of the relevant police officials and various Government officials who stated that they were unaware of the Petitioner’s mother’s whereabouts, and refused to divulge any information regarding the aforesaid arrest.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022