ISLAMABAD: Senator Nehal Hashmi pleaded on Tuesday before the Supreme Court to vacate the show-cause notice it had issued against him over his outburst in which he appeared to threaten members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and the judiciary for probing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family for allegations against them in the Panama Papers case.

In response to an earlier order of the Supreme Court, Mr Hashmi submitted a reply through his counsel Hashmat Habib with a request to order quashing of a criminal case registered against him at the Bahadurabad Police Station, District East, Karachi.

The petitioner also sought initiation of criminal proceedings against what he described as actual culprits who distorted and doctored some parts of his speech and transmitted the same on the social media and electronic media only to misguide the apex court.

He also requested the court to probe and unearth a conspiracy against him.

Mr Hashmi pleaded that after what he called his forcible involvement in the case under unfortunate circumstances, several serious questions had arisen like whether the treatment meted out to him on the first date of hearing in the contempt case was proper and in accordance with the law and whether his being dragged into in the Panama Papers case without any rhyme or reason was in accordance with the law.

Likewise, he said, whether the lodging of the criminal case against him in Karachi and that too without giving him an opportunity to be heard was lawful and whether or not such political cases had become burden upon the system of administration of justice.

Mr Hashmi contented that the FIR lodged against him was based on surmises and conjectures and thus liable to be quashed.

“Unfortunately some habitual petitioners having some political ambitions are trying to lodge some other FIRs just to get cheap publicity in the media which reflected the mala fide intentions of political vendetta. The lodging of this FIR was also against Article 10-A of the Constitution and thus a serious violation of the basic human rights.”

Mr Hashmi also asked whether or not the pendency of political cases was seriously affecting the original appellate, advisory and review jurisdiction of the apex court and whether or not dragging the apex court in political cases was adversely affecting respect and dignity of the court.

Mr Hashmi pleaded to the court to act sternly against all those elements who were involved in lowering down the prestige of the court to maintain the authority, prestige, honour and dignity of superior courts.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2017