Storming of judicial compound: Three lawyers submit unconditional apologies

ISLAMABAD: Three lawyers allegedly involved in storming the judicial compound on February 8 have submitted unconditional apologies before the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The lawyers, who submitted unconditional apology, include Farzana Faisal Khan, Naseer Ahmad Khan, and Asad Ullah Khan, for the 8th of February occurrence.

They submitted apology before a single bench of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, who heard contempt of court proceedings against the lawyers for their alleged involvement in their violent attack on the IHC building. In their apologies, they left themselves at the mercy of the court.

The court stated in its order that the case against them is deferred and their apologies shall be considered at a subsequent stage. The IHC bench also noted, "Since the amended reply filed by Naveed Hayat Malik does not qualify as an unconditional apology, his show cause shall proceed further for framing of charge."

It added that Zahid Mehmood Raja appeared and sought adjournment for one week for him to think as to whether or not to submit an unconditional apology. The court accepted his request. He also submitted that it would be appropriate to give the other respondents time for a similar purpose.

The IHC bench accepted his request saying that in the interest of justice, this matter was adjourned until August 4. In this matter, the court is conducting contempt of court proceedings against Ch Muhammad Junaid Akhtar, Ch Muhammad Ashraf Gujjar, Dr Khalid Ranjha, Khurram Mahmood Qureshi, Syed Nayab Hassan Gardezi, Muhammad Umair Baloch, Qaiser Imam Ch, Sh Muhammad Shoaib, Muhammad Shoaib Shaheen, Zahid Asif Ch, Faisal Iqbal Khan, Ch Zafar Ali Waraich, Sardar Abdul Raziq Khan, Ch Haseeb Muhammad, Jehangir Khan Jadoon, Binyamin Abbasi, Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan, Syed Ali Akbar Shah, Hafeez Ur Rehman , Sardar Mohammad Nasir Khan, Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, Rana Abid Nazir Khan, Farid Hussain Kaif, Saif Ul Islam Sindhu, Afsheen Manzoor Awan, Raja Rizwan Abbasi, Ch Naeem Ali Gujjar, Amir Abdullah Abbasi, Sohail Akbar Chaudhry, Muhammad Waqas Malik, Imran Shaukat Rao, Hamid Nawaz, Majid Rashid Khan, Shujah Ullah Gondal, Muhammad Sohail Khurrshid, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Naeem Khan, and Aamir Abbasi.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad Bar Council (IBC) has set up a fact-finding commission to probe into the high court attack and various aspects of the incident. The single-member commission comprises advocate Rana Abid Nazir and will compile its report in two weeks.

The committee probing into the attack on the high court comprising chairman Syed Qamar Sabzwari, Zulfiqar Ali Abbasi, and Raja Aleem Khan Abbasi have set up the commission and also issued terms of reference (TORs) for it. The TORs set for it includes disclosure of names of allottees and those who allotted the chambers in the F-8 football ground during 2020-2021.

It will also probe into whether the funds of the bar or treasury were used to build the chambers. It will further provide names of the law practitioners who used inappropriate language against the police at the Margalla police station on January 16 as well as names of those who attacked the district courts on February 8 and made provocative speeches.

It said that the manner in which the lawyers took the law into their hands and stormed the chief justice's block on February 8, holding him hostage, cannot be justified in any way. It added that the act has not only tarnished the prestige of lawyers but also the reputation of the community.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021