Ex-G-B judge seeks ‘impartial inquiry’ into affidavit scandal

ISLAMABAD:

The former chief justice of Supreme Elite Court Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Shamim has approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for an “impartial inquiry” into the facts stated in his affidavit.

He also filed a miscellaneous application for change of attorney general as a prosecutor in a suo motu contempt of court case.

Both the petitions will be heard along with the main case on Thursday (today). The court had also fixed the date to indict former G-B chief judge today.

Shamim filed two separate petitions in the IHC through senior lawyers Abdul Latif Afridi and Barrister Sarwar Shah.

The IHC had initiated proceedings against Shamim and others after an affidavit was published in a national daily that accused former chief justice Saqib Nisar of influencing the case against former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued written order of hearing of the case which took place on January 7.

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

The miscellaneous request for an impartial inquiry into the affidavit before indictment in the contempt of court case stated that the affidavit was sealed on November 10, 2021 without informing anyone and handed over to a grandchild in the United Kingdom.

Shamim maintained that on October 30 he attended a symposium in the United States as a special guest on Judicial Activism in Pakistan.

The ex-G-B judge said he was informed about his brother’s death on November 6 but was unable to catch a direct flight from the US to Pakistan, adding that he returned to the country through a transit flight from the UK.

Shamim said he was upset due to the demise of four close relatives, which occurred during the last four months of the death of his brother. He said he realised the importance of penning the incident after the passing away of his family members.

Shamim noted that he did not disclose the fact to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) as Nisar himself was the head of the Council at the time. Further, he said, the incident took place outside Pakistan and that he retired from job after a month.

The former G-B judge stressed that he had “exactly stated in the affidavit what he heard”.

Shamim, in his plea, stated that he had planned not to disclose the facts to anyone for the rest of his life but due to the promise made to his late wife and the circumstances after the death of his relatives he recorded the facts in the form of an affidavit.

“I (Rana Shamim) kept the affidavit secret and recorded it outside Pakistan because I never intended to make it public,” the petition said.

He said the facts mentioned in his affidavit should be verified through an inquiry and that the counter affidavit of Nisar should be brought to the fore and an argument be allowed on it.

The plea stated that until the facts mentioned in the affidavit were proved to be false a case of criminal contempt could not be constituted.

It further said that the case would conclude if the facts mentioned in the affidavit were proved to be true, which was only possible through a fair inquiry. He requested the court to inquire the facts instead of indicting him.

In the second miscellaneous plea of contempt case, Shamim pleaded the court to change the prosecutor.

The petition stated that the attorney general, who had been appointed as prosecutor in the contempt case, from day one, had been aggressive towards the petitioner.