Affidavit leak case: Alleged contemnor urges IHC to expunge observation against him

ISLAMABAD: One of the alleged contemnors in an affidavit’s leak and its publishing case has requested the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to expunge the observation made against him, and the editor of an English newspaper, in the written order of 28 December 2021 proceeding.

Ansar Abbasi, senior correspondent The News, on Saturday, filed an application before the IHC to expunge the words reproduced in the para 1 of written order of the 28 December 2021 proceeding. The applicant stated that he could not have made and never made the statement mentioned in the para 1.

He submitted that the IHC order dated 28 December 2021 contains a clerical error in that it is stated; “They (Ansar Abbasi and Aamir Ghouri) were explicitly asked whether they would report and publish the copy of a leaked document in the form of an affidavit if it contained untrue facts intended to influence the outcome of pending judicial proceeding.

They answered that they would do so, if it was in the public interest because their role was of a mere “messenger”, stated para 1 of 12-page written order, which was issued on Friday (December 31)

Freedom of expression is not an ‘absolute’ right: IHC

A single bench of IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah has decided to indict Shakilur Rehman, editor in chief, Aamir Ghouri, editor, Ansar Abbasi senior reporter of The News, and Rana Mohammad Shamim, former chief judge of the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan, for publication of a news item on Rana Shamim’s affidavit in which he levelled allegations against former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, on 7 November 2021.

Ansar Abbasi stated that his position has been clear from the very outset of these contempt proceedings that he merely reported the existence of the affidavit of a person, who was far from ordinary, and that he held top most judicial position in Gilgit-Baltistan. Also that he had absolutely no knowledge that the facts sworn in the affidavit were “false or true”.

The journalist believed that he was publishing a story about the existence of the affidavit, without in any way claiming that the facts stated therein were true. He merely intended to report the existence of an affidavit, not about the veracity of the facts narrated in it.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022