IHC extends its orders of restraining authorities from shifting Imaan outside of Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday extended its orders of restraining the authorities from shifting human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari outside of the federal capital.

A single bench of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb conducted the hearing of Shireen Mazari’s petition, wherein, she as the mother sought bail for her daughter and the list of cases against her.

During the hearing, an official of the Interior Ministry appeared before the court.

Justice Miangul asked him whether they had requested the provincial authorities for the details of the cases filed against Imaan.

The official responded that the federal government cannot give orders to the provinces in such matters.

Expressing his surprise, Justice Miangul asked the official, what is he saying? “We have only asked you to get the information.”

The assistant attorney general (AAG) said that the order was received late and therefore, he sought time from the court. However, Imaan’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja argued that they were afraid she would be arrested from outside Adiala Jail again. The IHC directed the authorities to submit a challan and begin trial while Imaan was in custody and deferred the hearing till September 4.

Justice Miangul in his written order had directed the respondents to produce the list of FIRs in which the petitioner’s daughter has been nominated as an accused. It added, “Respondent No 1/Secretary, Ministry of Interior shall also obtain from the provinces the list of FIRs registered against the petitioner’s daughter.”

The bench observed, “The petitioner’s daughter is thirty years of age and a lawyer by profession. To the petitioner’s knowledge, there are three FIRs registered against her daughter in the Islamabad Capital Territory. This Court has already deprecated the arrest of citizens on the basis of undisclosed FIRs which have of late been commonly adopted to keep certain citizens in confinement.”

The court also said, “The respondents are directed not to remove the petitioner’s daughter from the jurisdiction of the Islamabad Capital Territory until further orders. As mentioned above, the petitioner’s daughter has been in detention since 20.08.2023. The petitioner’s daughter shall not be arrested in any other case which relates to an occurrence during the period when the petitioner’s daughter was in custody.”

Meanwhile, another bench of the IHC has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the inspector general of police (IGP) Islamabad on a petition seeking the removal of Shireen Mazari’s name from the exit control list (ECL).

The bench comprising Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri stated in his written order that vide order dated 02.08.2023, notice was issued to respondent No 3/Inspector General of Police, ICT, Islamabad and he was directed to file para-wise comments/reply within a period of one week but needful was not done, so on 10.08.2023, counsel on behalf of respondent No 3/Inspector General of Police, ICT, Islamabad tendered appearance and sought time for filing of parawise comments/reply, he was directed to do the needful within a period of one week but today, again parawise comments have not been filed.

He added, “Respondent No3/Inspector General of Police, ICT, Islamabad is directed to pay cost of Rs25,000 to the petitioner before the next date of hearing and also conduct an inquiry that why the orders passed by this Court have been flouted and violated, why parawise comments have not been filed within the stipulated period as directed by this Court, inquiry report and action taken against the delinquents be submitted within a period of two weeks.”

Later, the bench deferred hearing of the case till September 6.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023