The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a written show-cause notice to former Gilgit-Baltistan chief judge Rana Shamim over the news of affidavit in the contempt of court case.
On Monday, the court had taken notice of the affidavit, submitted by Shamim, accusing former chief justice Saqib Nisar of “keeping” former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz in prison till the general elections of 2018.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah also issued show-cause notices to owner of the newspaper, editor and the journalist and summoned all the parties on November 30 in personal capacity. The court directed all the parties to submit their replies within a week.
Read IHC takes notice of accusations against former CJP Saqib Nisar
The IHC observed that news prima facie news fell under the category of criminal contempt of court.
It said that such contempt was punishable under Article 204 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003, adding that the news appeared to be an attempt to influence the pending appeal.
The court noted that no attempt was made to ascertain facts from the registrar’s office and that presenting news as facts without knowing truth was against the principles of journalism.
It said that presenting news in such a manner was the violation of the fundamental rights of citizens.
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