Contempt case: FDE head submits apology to court

IHC has yet to accept the apology, case adjourned till October.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) Director General Dr Shahnaz Riaz on Tuesday submitted an unconditional apology before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for using derogatory language against the judiciary.

Riaz is accused of ‘contemptuous attitude’ and using ‘inappropriate language’ in the courtroom.

The FDE director general appeared before the court and tendered an unconditional apology. The court, however, has yet to accept the apology and directed for records pertaining to the case be produced before the bench. The case was adjourned till the last week of October.

On August 24, Justice Qureshi had issued a bailable arrest warrant for Riaz after she failed to appear in court in connection with a plea filed by Taj Traders and others seeking court intervention to clear payment of their dues.

She was arrested on August 25 and is now facing contempt proceedings. The court had ordered her to submit a written apology during the last hearing.

The contempt proceedings had started in response to a report filed by the IHC advocate general who was earlier directed to verify Riaz’s claim that she could not appear before the court because she had to attend a parliamentary body meeting.

In his report, the advocate general informed the court that Riaz did attend the standing committee meeting but had been informed about the hearing beforehand, indicating that she deliberately missed the hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2015.