ISLAMABAD: Former Gilgit-Baltistan chief judge Rana Mohammad Shamim submitted an affidavit to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday in response to his indictment more than two months ago in a contempt of court case.

Mr Shamim submitted his affidavit before IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah.

The contempt case stemmed from a news report published in The News International last year that highlighted Mr Shamim’s affidavit in which he accused former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar of trying to delay the grant of bail to PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband Mohammad Safdar until 2018 general elections.

On Jan 20, the IHC indicted Mr Shamim for contempt of court but deferred the framing of charges against journalists Ansar Abbasi and Aamir Ghauri and Jang Group’s owner Mir Shakeelur Rehman, who were also being tried along with Mr Shamim.

The charges framed by the court include the execution of an affidavit containing scandalous allegations, and not seeking legal recourse against the notary public or the journalist who published its contents after the sealed document was leaked.

The court also charged him for his three-year silence, holding that executing the affidavit in November was an attempt to undermine the court’s dignity, bring the administration of justice into disrespect and divert the course of justice.

In the affidavit, Mr Shamim contended that after the death of five of his close relatives — including his wife — over a six-month period, he had decided to write an affidavit to set the record straight. He requested the IHC to seek a counter-affidavit from former CJP Saqib Nisar.

He said he had gone to the United States to attend a symposium on judicial activism in Pakistan, arranged by Pak-American Lawyers for Civil and Legal Rights, where he was invited as chief guest.

He said he was due to return on Nov 17, but on Nov 6 he received the unfortunate news of the demise of his brother which caused him to cut his trip short and return to Pakistan on Nov 7.

Since he could not get a direct flight to Pakistan, he had to transit through London and reached there on Nov 8, before boarding a flight for Karachi via Dubai on Nov 10.

According to the affidavit, Mr Shamim was already under considerable emotional stress before he received the news of his brother’s death. His brother’s wife had passed away in Aug 2021, his uncle on July 5, his wife on June 4, while his sister-in-law had passed away on March 31 that year.

It stated that Mr Shamim “while suffering through the stress of loss of his close family members… realised the importance of writing down the incident in his knowledge as soon as possible, as per his beloved late wife’s will… and he chose to do so during his transit stay in London”.

Mr Shamim said he did not mention his conversation with Mr Nisar on July 15, 2018 before the Supreme Judicial Council because the former CJP was the council’s head at the time and the respondent retired within a month of the incident. Furthermore, the incident had happened outside the jurisdiction of Pakistan, he said.

The IHC has set the next hearing for April 26, as Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan was busy in a Supreme Court case that will decide on the legality of a ruling by the National Assembly deputy speaker to dismiss the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2022