ISLAMABAD: Alleged contemnor Agha Iftikharuddin Mirza requested the Supreme Court to stay contempt of court proceedings against him till the final decision of the trial court in FIR No.3/2020.
In an application filed on Friday, Iftikharuddin submitted that besides the contempt notice, an FIR was registered against him by the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) and he remained under physical remand for eight days, thereafter, he was sent to judicial custody.
A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed on July 15th framed charges against Mirza for "threatening and maligning the judiciary".
Sarina Isa, the wife of Justice Qazi Faez Isa, had filed a complaint against Iftikharuddin at the Secretariat Police Station for threatening her husband in a video clip.
However, the case was transferred to the FIA.
The Counter Terrorism Wing of the FIA has registered a case against Iftikharuddin under 7ATA read with Section 34/500/505/506 of Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, besides Section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, on June 29, 2020 for "threatening and slanderous speech" made in a video against the judiciary, which was uploaded on social media.
The 'contemnor' said the investigation was still in progress and the challan had not been submitted.
He stated that the allegations in the contempt of court and the FIR were directly linked to each other based on the same video clip. "If any step/decision is taken by the Supreme Court then it will affect the investigation, trial and his defence in the case registered by FIA," Iftikharuddin said. "Free and fair trial is a fundamental right of every citizen, any finding of the apex court will create impediment for the trial court, while reaching any conclusion in the said case.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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