Contempt case: Ahsan Iqbal tenders unconditional apology

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader and former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal on Friday tendered an unconditional apology in the Lahore High Court in a contempt case against him.

The three-member bench, headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, heard the application filed by Munir Ahmad against Ahsan Iqbal over anti-judiciary remarks.

At the outset of the hearing, Ahsan Iqbal, along with his counsel, appeared before the bench and submitted a detailed reply in the case. He also maintained that he respected the judiciary.

However, Justice Mazahar observed that proper words suitable for an apology had not been used in the reply, as required by the law.

To which, the former minister tendered unconditional apology saying that offices did not matter for him as he narrowly escaped an attempt on his life recently.

The bench, adjourning the further hearing till July 2, asked Ahsan Iqbal to file a detailed reply.

The civil miscellaneous application was filed by Munir Ahmad in a pending petition against anti-judiciary speeches by former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and 16 other leaders of the PML-N.

The petitioner submitted that Ahsan Iqbal, the then interior minister, and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had used derogatory remarks against Supreme Court judges on April 25 and April 23, respectively and the same was aired by the TV channels.