IHC defers indictment of Rana Shamim and others till January 20

ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday adjourned the hearing of a contempt of court case against former chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Rana Shamim and several journalists till January 20.

During the hearing today, the court was informed that Jang Group owner Mir Shakeelur Rehman could not appear for the proceedings as he had tested positive for Covid-19. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah rejected Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan's request to allow Rehman to attend court proceedings via video link.

On December 28, the IHC had set January 7 (today) to indict Shamim, Rehman and senior journalists Ansar Abbasi and Aamir Ghauri.

A story published in The News stated that in 2018 Nisar influenced judicial proceedings to prolong the detention of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz following their conviction in the Avenfield apartments reference. As per the alleged affidavit, Shamim claims Nasir had travelled to GB for vacations in 2018 and on one occasion appeared “very disturbed” while speaking to his registrar on the phone, asking him to get in touch with a high court judge.

Shamim said that Nisar was finally able to get in touch with the judge and told him that Nawaz and Maryam must remain in jail until elections are over, after which “he became calm and happily demanded another cup of tea”.

According to the document, Shamim said he told Nisar that Nawaz had been falsely implicated, to which the former CJP replied: “Rana Sahib the chemistry of Punjab is different from GB.”

Saqib Nisar rubbishes allegations

Former chief justice Nisar has rejected the allegations of the former chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan. He, on telephone, told media persons that the accusations levelled against him were “contrary to the facts”; therefore, he did not want to respond to the “plain lies” of the ex-GB chief justice.

The ex-CJP said Shamim had asked him for an extension but he did not accept his request, adding that the ex-GB CJ had also complained to him about the same.