FIA yet to register FIR in contempt case

Submits interim report in SC, says video clip of PPP leader not edited

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has yet to register a case against PPP leader from Karachi, Masoodur Rehman Abbasi, who allegedly used derogatory language towards Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed after the top judge came down hard on the PPP led Sindh government last week.

A senior official revealed to The Express Tribune that it is a matter of surprise that the FIA is reluctant to register a case against Abbasi. “The agency is of the view that it cannot register a case without first receiving a complaint,” he said.

The Office of the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) office had stressed that FIA register the case.

Earlier, the FIA had registered an FIR against Agha Iftikhar Uddin over his hate speech against Supreme Court judge Qazi Faez Isa and subsequently arrested him. However, the agency had taken the action on the complaint of Justice Isa’s wife Sarina Isa.

It is also debatable whether Abbasi committed any offence under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016 as the video of his speech was uploaded on the social media by someone else.

Some senior lawyers believe that either the apex court should initiate contempt proceedings against the PPP leader or some other law enforcing agency should take action.

“Even if he committed a grave offence, he should be treated fairly by following due process,” said a lawyer. Meanwhile, the FIA through Additional Attorney General Sohail Mahmood submitted an interim report in the Supreme Court on Friday.

According to the report, audio and video of Abbasi in the clip are genuine and they are not edited.

The duration of the audio/video clip is two-minute-15-seconds. It was uploaded by Faraz Karim on Facebook first. Another person, Masood Anwar, also uploaded it on the social media site separately. A channel VTN Urdu later uploaded the said video on YouTube.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has yet to submit its reply in this matter.

On June 22, a four-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, issued a contempt notice to Abbasi over his abusive speech against Justice Gulzar Ahmed.

Also read: SC issues contempt notice to PPP leader over hate speech

“It has come to our notice that a speech has been delivered by Masoodur Rehman Abbasi, General Secretary, PPP, PS-114, Karachi in which he has made indecent and disrespectful remarks about the Chief Justice of Pakistan that, on the face of it, appear to be derogatory and scandalous.

"Prima facie, we consider such blatant remarks made by him to constitute contempt of court under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the law.

“Accordingly, let a show cause notice be issued to him under Article 204 of the Constitution read with Section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003 to file his reply and show cause why he may not be proceeded against and punished in accordance with law," the order had said.

The bench had observed that Abbasi is the general secretary of the PPP in PS-114 constituency and that the Sindh government should ensure compliance with the notice of reasons.

The court had also directed Sindh inspector general of police (IGP) to ensure service of such notice upon Abbasi and to make certain of his appearance before this court on June 28.

The court had also issued notices to Pemra and the FIA to furnish all the relevant record, data and information in respect of the controversial speech made by the PPP leader.

It also issued notice to the Attorney General for Pakistan in terms of Order XXVII-A CPC to assist the court. The court later adjourned the hearing till June 28.

Earlier, the 23rd executive committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) condemned Abbasi’s behaviour when it was briefed regarding a video clip in which he was using foul language against the CJ.

Irked by the PPP led Sindh government’s failure to attend to the civic issues of Karachi, CJ Gulzar Ahmed on June 15 said there seemed to be no government in Sindh and the system was being run by influential persons from Canada, London or Dubai.

The CJ had passed these remarks while hearing a case relating to the construction of a tower at the City’s Sharea Faisal. “If the Sindh government could not clean a nullah, then how could it run the entire province?” he had asked. Abbasi’s video had surfaced after this court hearing.