IHC to indict Rana Shamim, others on Jan 7

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has decided to indict former chief justice of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Rana Shamim along with other accused in the contempt of court case on January 7.

The high court had initiated proceedings against Shamim, investigative reporter Ansar Abbasi, editor-in-chief of a national daily, and its resident editor after an affidavit was published in the newspaper that accused former chief justice Saqib Nisar of influencing the case against ex-PM Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

During the hearing, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah said the court initiated the proceedings in the case because an impression was being given that the court had been compromised. “This court is presenting itself for self-accountability,” he added.

The IHC CJ said he couldn’t comment on things happening outside the high court but he was only concerned with the IHC.

At the outset of the hearing, the original affidavit was presented to the CJ. Justice Minallah said Rana Shamim was told to produce the original affidavit in the court not send it to the IHC CJ. “I thought as the affidavit belonged to Shamim so he should be the one to open it,” Justice Minallah added.

At this, Shamim’s counsel Latif Afridi said the IHC CJ asked for it so he should be the one to open the document. Shamim, however, opened the packet containing the affidavit and confirmed its contents.

Read: Barbs fly in NA over affidavit controversy

Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan said the former G-B judge had said that his affidavit was sealed but this parcel didn’t contain any seal, but just a stamp of the courier. AGP Khan said as per Shamim he had given the affidavit to his grandson in a sealed envelope.

Shamim responded in affirmative, saying he gave the document in a white sealed envelope to his grandson in London.

The affidavit was later sealed by the IHC registrar at the request of the CJ. AGP Khan, however, requested the court to provide a copy of the document.

Justice Minallah said Shamim blamed Ansar Abbasi, the reporter who broke the story, for leaking the document. “He [Shamim] had said the affidavit was sealed and he did not share it with anyone,” Justice Minallah said, adding that the judge mentioned in the document was on leave at the time of the purported conversation between ex-CJP Nisar and the said judge.

“I was also part of the bench afterward, am I compromised as well?” he questioned.

At this, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) vice-chairperson requested to proceed in the case, saying now it should seek responses from the people mentioned in the affidavit. “If PBC is implying that the contents of this affidavit were true then it is causing aspersions on all judges of this court,” the IHC CJ replied.

Read Also: IHC receives former G-B top judge’s sealed affidavit

The PBC official said it doesn’t matter if it pertained to a judge or anyone else, the law should take its course.

The affidavit has damaged the credibility of every judge at this court, Justice Minallah said. In allusion to bail granted to Nawaz and Maryam by the IHC, he said where did their “narrative” go when they got bail from this court after two weeks of the alleged conversation.

The IHC CJ said the court will frame charges and asked Latif Afridi to start arguments in the case.

'Private affidavit'

Shamim’s lawyer Latif Afridi said his client didn’t share the affidavit with anyone. When Ansar Abbasi had approached him for a version, he was told that the affidavit was a private document, Afridi added.

As per Rana Shamim, the document could have been leaked by the notary public. At this, the court asked did Shamim send notices to Abbasi or the notary public? Afridi said this was Shamim’s own issue as he was not hired to argue on that issue.

He said Shamim got to know of the leaking of his affidavit after it was published in the newspaper. “Shamim will take action against those who [allegedly] leaked his affidavit after getting free from these proceedings,” Afridi added.

Justice Minallah said the affidavit named an IHC judge, adding that this has damaged the credibility of this court. “Who is the beneficiary of this affidavit,” he questioned. “I don’t know who the beneficiary is,” Afridi responded.

Ansar Abbasi said he approached Rana Shamim before publishing the story, adding that the conversation was also part of his report published in the newspaper. He confirmed through a message the affidavit was genuine.

CJ Minallah said as per Shamim it was a private document that was leaked.

The resident editor, Amir Ghauri, said the journalist had a public-interest document that was published.

Abbasi said he was not told by Shamim that he could not publish the affidavit. Justice Minallah asked if anyone publishes a document to influence the proceedings of a court, would he publish it? Abbasi said it was not a document of an ordinary person, but a former judge.

“Do you know how a judge is appointed in Gilgit-Baltistan,” Justice Minallah asked Abbasi.

During the hearing, AGP Khan said Shamim was the primary accused in the case and he should be indicted if he doesn’t accept his mistake. Referring to the report in The Express Tribune that Shamim signed the affidavit in the office of Nawaz Sharif, AGP Khan said the former G-B judge hasn’t refuted the content of this report.

Latif Afridi said that his client has already denied the report in a TV interview. The court then adjourned the case till Jan 7 and said the accused will be indicted on the same date.

Earlier upon his arrival at the IHC for the hearing of the contempt of court case against him, Shamim was questioned about the report published in this paper stating that he took the oath and signed an affidavit in Nawaz’s office.

In his reply to the reporter, Justice (retd) Shamim said that he was alone at the time of signing the affidavit.

The affidavit, whose contents mention a three-year-old alleged incident, accused the former top judge Saqib Nisar of trying to coerce a judgment from a sitting IHC judge against the ousted prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif.

In the evidence available with this scribe, Charles Guthrie; a UK Solicitor confirmed that ‘Judge Guy’ was at ‘Marble Arch’.

The shady affidavit

Since the affidavit surfaced in one of Pakistan’s leading newspapers on November 15th, its authenticity has been in question. The journalist that published this investigative report has been called in for contempt of court. The hearing presided by Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court noted that the former Chief Justice Rana Shamim, by making the stated allegations, had “cast doubt on all judges at IHC”.

Read More: Rana Shamim signed affidavit in Nawaz’s office, reveals notary

The court also noted: The silence of Rana Mohammad Shamim for more than three years, despite holding the highest judicial office of Gilgit Baltistan territory raises serious questions regarding his credibility. The timing of publication of the news report is crucial because it related to appeals which were fixed for hearing, observed the chief justice. (Crl. Org. No.309/2021)

On the orders of the court, the original affidavit was submitted a whole month after it was allegedly created. According to Rana Shamim’s statement before the IHC, he did not provide the copy or affidavit to the journalist who published the story and his affidavit was in a safe in London.