Friday, Islamabad High Court (IHC) deferred indictment in the contempt of court case against former chief justice of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Rana Shamim and others accused till Jan 20.
To clarify, in November 2021, journalist Ansar Abbasi published a report based on Rana Shamim’s alleged accusations against former CJP Saqib Nisar. As per the report, Rana Shamim said that the ex-CJP made a call to an IHC judge asking to keep PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz in jail without bail until the 2018 general elections. The report published Rana Shamim’s affidavit.
However, Chief Justice of IHC, Justice Minallah subsequently took notice of the report. As a result, IHC later issued a show-cause notice against Abbasi, Shamim, and those involved in publishing the report under the Contempt of Court Ordinance.
Read more: Saqib Nisar reacts to leaked audio clip, calls it fake
Important to note, IHC earlier decided to indict Rana Shamim and others in the contempt of court case on January 7 [today]. However, IHC will now give a verdict on January 20.
Rana Shamim affidavit: IHC suspended indictment in contempt of court case against ex-GB judge, others. @AnsarAAbbasi pic.twitter.com/d2UhDB7qJH
— Sarah Hasan (@SarahHasanRizvi) January 7, 2022
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah gave Shamim and the others time until the next hearing on January 20 to “reflect” on the matter. He also said “acceptance of mistake in front of the court increases honour.”
Read more: Saqib Nisar rejects accusations that he kept Nawaz & Maryam in jail
Controversy surrounding Rana Shamim’s affidavit
In a hearing, Rana Shamim said he didn’t know how the journalist got hold of his affidavit. He said the sealed affidavit was with this family and submitted the original affidavit. Rana Shamim admitted that the content published in the newspapers was not the same as the contents of the affidavit.
Furthermore, in a separate hearing, Ansar Abbasi also put the authenticity of the affidavit in question. IHC noted that Abbasi had said the newspaper would have published the affidavit even if it “may be wrong”.
A media report also emerged claiming that Rana Shamim signed the affidavit trying to incriminate Mian Saqib Nisar in PML-N’s London office. The revelations came owing to a statement by UK solicitor Charles Guthrie who notarized the affidavit.
Read more: Rana Shamim’s son thinks signing affidavit in Nawaz’s office is not a big deal
The report caused quite a storm in Pakistan. PTI leaders began lambasting the Sharif family. People began believing that Nawaz Sharif family manufactured the whole isse to gain the public’s sympathy. Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry even equated the Sharif family with the Sicilian mafia. As a result, the claims and ambiguities threw the authenticity of the affidavit into question.