Contempt of court proceedings: IHC issues notices to Pemra, FIA, PTA, others

ISLAMABAD: A full court of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Monday, issued notices to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Pakistan Telecommunica-tion Authority (PTA) in contempt of court proceedings initiated against malicious and unrelenting social media smear campaign which is in full flow against Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri.

The Full Court headed by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz initiated contempt of court proceedings against those involved in vilifying campaign against Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri; however, Justice Jahangiri is not a part of the bench.

The bench also issued notices to Gharida Farooqi, Ammar Solangi, and Hassan Ayub in this matter.

Besides this, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) condemned the campaign as malicious saying that Justice Jahangiri is an able and hardworking judge.

In the social media campaign, questions were raised over the genuineness of Justice Jahangiri’s educational degree, terming it “invalid”. Subsequently, a reference was also filed on the same matter in the Supreme Judicial Council.

During the hearing, Justice Aamer said while addressing the Additional Attorney General (AAG) that the court cannot tolerate the malicious campaign any longer. He said that the IHC took action in a similar matter earlier as well but nobody learnt a lesson from it.

He observed that it was the institutional response of the IHC and warned that whoever was involved in the campaign would be brought to justice.

The IHC chief justice said that it was the responsibility of the Pemra, PTA, and the FIA to stop such campaigns.

Justice Aurangzeb said that the government did not take any action when the drive was run against judges. He also said that an impression was being given that the government was behind the malicious campaign.

Justice Aamer remarked that they were not afraid of accountability; however, any such campaign in the name of accountability would not be tolerated.

He asked whether they should tell the government and Pemra that what their responsibility was and what they were supposed to do. Censuring the ongoing campaign on national and social media, he wondered if the judges should now give clarification in tweets that their educational degrees were genuine.

Later, the IHC issued notices to the Pemra, director general FIA and PTA, as well as journalist Gharida Farooqi, Ammar Solangi, and Hasan Ayub and deferred the hearing till the end of summer vacations.

Justice Jahangiri was a member of the IHC’s six judges who wrote a letter on March 25 seeking Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa to convene the judicial convention to consider the matter of alleged interference of intelligence operatives in the judicial functions or “intimidation” of judges in a manner that undermined the independence of the judiciary.

The six IHC judges including Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Justice Jahangiri, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz had written a letter to the chief justice, who is also chairman of the SJC.

Separately, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) office-bearers said while addressing a press conference that the state institutions should work by remaining within their jurisdictions and do not interfere into other’s domain.

They said that when a judge was appointed, intelligence agencies verified his degrees, while his scrutiny was also done. The IHCBA also called an “emergency meeting” of its Executive Committee on the same matter on Tuesday.

In a statement, the IHCBA condemned the campaign as malicious saying that Justice Jahangiri is an able and hardworking judge.

The bar association said that Justice Jahangiri had a distinguished career as a lawyer and deputy attorney general. It said that the IHCBA strongly believed in the independence and autonomy of the judiciary.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024