Hearing a petition seeking the dismissal of the Army defamation case against Imaan Mzari-Hazir, daughter of former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mzari, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) observed that Imaan Mazari, had used “objectionable language” following the arrest of her mother as her “trauma” had been “exacerbated due to the misleading information and unexplained conduct of police officials”.
“From a plain reading of the memorandum of petition in hand, it appears that the petitioner had used objectionable language after she had been informed regarding the arrest of her mother. A plain reading of the memorandum of petition and the written reply submitted before the Investigating Officer show that, prima facie, the information provided by the police officials was misleading,” IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah said, adding that “The trauma and distress of the petitioner appears to have been exacerbated due to the misleading information and unexplained conduct of police officials.”
“It also appears that the petitioner’s utterances were not in consonance with the code and ethics of enrolled counsels. Nonetheless, the learned counsel has stated that the petitioner had later realized that the language and accusations were not appropriate and that her conclusions were based on misleading information received from the police officials”, the written order of the court reads.
“In response to the court’s query, the learned counsel for the petitioner has informed that it was explained to the Investigating Officer that there was no intent to commit an offence nor the offences mentioned in the FIR, appear to be attracted,” the order said, adding that remorse on part of the accused was obvious and the court had no reason to doubt the bonafides of the statement made on behalf of Imaan Mazari-Hazir.
In light of the statement of Imaan Mazari the court expects “the complainant would consider withdrawing the complaint”.
Furthermore, while adjourning the case, the court ordered to issue notices to the respondents for filing reports and para-wise comments before June 9, the date fixed for next hearing.
The Pakistan Army had filed an FIR against Imaan Mazari for abusing and defaming the army and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa. However, the Islamabad High Court granted Imaan pre-arrest bail till June 9 in the case.
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