Disparaging remarks: IHC dismisses Mazari’s petition against Asif

Court cannot interfere in incidents taking place on floor of the NA

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC). Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s Dr Shireen Mazari seeking disqualification of Defence Minister Khawaja Asif for his derogatory remarks against her during a session of the National Assembly in June. Justice Athar Minallah of the IHC heard arguments from Dr Mazari’s counsel on the maintainability of the petition on Wednesday before ruling that the petition could not be maintained.

The court had directed Mazari’s counsel to argue how matters relating to proceedings in the National Assembly could be taken up by the court.

In his remarks, Justice Minallah asked if the PTI, being one of the largest political parties in the NA, had taken any action within the same forum following the incident. Whether the party had made any effort to table a bill in the NA in this regard, or if the petitioner went to a police station to register a case against Asif, the judge asked.

Justice Minallah also asked what action Dr Mazari had taken if she was not satisfied with how the matter had been dealt with inside the parliament.

The IHC judge observed that the court cannot interfere in matters pertaining to incidents taking place on the floor of the NA keeping in view Article 69 of the Constitution, under which courts cannot inquire into the proceedings of parliament while the law grants privilege to members of the assembly.

Dr Mazari had requested the court to direct the speaker National Assembly to initiate disciplinary action against Asif and refer the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for disqualification of the minister over his derogatory remarks against her on the floor of the house.

The petition cited ministry of law, speaker National Assembly, federal minister for parliamentary affairs and Asif as respondents.

The counsel said that Asif made derogatory remarks against the petitioner, “which were a testament of a libertine,” during a session held in June. He added that the remarks were duly televised and watched around the globe by millions of viewers and were still available on certain social media forums.

Razzaq stated that Asif, while pointing towards Mazari in the NA on June 8, had said, “Order this tractor trolley to shut her mouth” when she and some other lawmakers protested against his speech on load shedding during Ramazan.

Razzaq argued that the comments were wholly discriminatory and bigoted because the petitioner was specifically singled out on the basis of her gender and that it was a malicious attempt by the minister to disparage her well-earned reputation in front of her fellow parliamentarians and the public at large.

After forceful objections raised by the opposition, the speaker “hesitantly” expunged the words subject to the condition that the petitioner remains quiet, Razzaq said. He added that Dr Mazari is known for her clear stance on issues and hard-hitting criticism of government policies and the remarks have damaged her good reputation.

He further said that the remarks are criminal in nature as Asif defamed Dr Mazari which comes under section 500 of the Pakistan Penal Code, while he had also verbally harassed her which created a hostile working environment for her and thus comes under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010.

The petition read that a legal notice was sent to Asif to which he once again “cunningly tried to insult the petitioner again by eloquently explaining the attributes of a Tractor Trolley and as to how the said object emits noises and then compared it to the noises which he was allegedly hearing on the impugned day in the National Assembly.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2016.