AJK SC indicts Khalid Ibrahim Khan in contempt of court case

Khan said that he will not appear in the court regarding this case

MUZAFFARABAD/ OUR CORRESPONDENT: Azad Jammu and Kashmir Supreme Court (AJK SC) on Tuesday indicted Member of Azad Jammu and Legislative Assembly (MLA) Sardar Khalid Ibrahim Khan for contempt of court.

A two-member AJK SC bench comprising Chief Justice Chaudhry Ibrahim Zia and Justice Saeed Akram Khan had taken up the matter following Khalid Ibrahim Khan’s alleged derogatory and contemptuous statements on the floor of the house and later in the press conferences held on May 25 2018, June 3 2018, and June 9 2018 against the apex court.

“The court is trying to escape from the case by fixing a long date for next hearing. But we will continue to chase those who committed unconstitutional and illegal acts by adopting a more rigid stance on the matter,” Khan told reporters in Islamabad while commenting on the proceeding of the courts back in Muzaffarabad on Tuesday.

However, neither accused Sardar Khalid Ibrahim Khan nor any of his lawyers turned up at the court to get the copy of the charge sheet, which mentioned that the indictment comes on a speech made in the state legislature and a number of press conferences held at different occasions.

The court adjourned the hearing of the case till October 4 2018.

Sardar Khalid Ibrahim Khan who is the Jammu and Peoples Party (JKPP) president had made criticized Chief Justice Chaudhry Ibrahim Zia for his alleged role in the appointment of five judges of AJK High Court on political basis in one of his speech made at the floor of the house.

The Supreme Court issued the notice to Sardar Khalid Ibrahim to appear before the court in person, which he refused to obey, and then said at a number of press conferences that the court does not have the powers to summon anyone on the basis of a speech made on the floor of the house.

The SC bench directed the government to immediately appoint Advocate General to get further instruction from the Registrar of the court pertaining to the case and to present the list of witnesses and related documents in the court.

The court also directed Azad Kashmir Police Inspector General to take action under Cyber Crimes Law and stop the comments and posts on social media against the judiciary. The Supreme Court also sought an explanation from a lawyer Nabila Ayub Khan who appeared on behalf of the AJK Bar Council in the contempt of court case but later she failed to submit a ‘vakalatnama’.

Following his indictment in contempt of court case, Sardar Khalid Ibrahim Khan once again came out with his stance that he had rightly raised the question of the appointment of judges in superior judiciary on a political basis. He said that he had neither appeared before the court in past nor he will appear in this case in future.

On the contrary, a number of lawyers and residents of the city led by former adviser to government Raja Mubashir Ejaz and senior lawyer Raja Amjid Ali Khan assembled outside the Supreme Court building during the hearing of the case and raised pro- judiciary slogans.