The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday set January 7, 2022, as the date for framing charges against former Gilgit-Baltistan chief justice Rana Shamim and three others in a contempt of court case, related to the publication of an investigative report highlighting an affidavit attributed to the ex-judge in which he accused former jurist Mian Saqib Nisar of colluding to deny bails to top PML-N leadership prior to the general elections 2018.
In the last hearing on December 20, Shamim had informed the court that he had submitted the original affidavit. The submission of the document came more than a month after the affidavit was mentioned in the report published in The News.
The IHC had directed the former judge to submit his original affidavit in three previous hearings, warning that charges would be framed if the maker of the affidavit, Shamim, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Jang Group Mir Shakeelur Rehman, senior journalist Ansar Abbasi and resident editor Amer Ghouri failed to show it was executed and published for bona fide purpose.
In the 'leaked' affidavit, on which Ansar Abbasi's report was based, Shamim allegedly stated that Nisar, during his visit to GB, made a call to an IHC judge and asked him to ensure that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were not released on bail before July 25, 2018 general elections. The affidavit was published as part of an investigative report by The News on Nov 15.
Justice Minallah had subsequently taken notice of the report and later issued show-cause notices to Abbasi, Rehman, Ghouri as well as Shamim under the Contempt of Court Ordinance.
During the hearing today, Shamim opened his original affidavit on the court's instructions. Justice Minallah asked Shamim if the document was the former judge's affidavit and whether he had sealed it himself to which Shamim replied in the affirmative.
Justice Minallah also directed that copies of the affidavit be provided to Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan.
The chief justice observed that Shamim's written response submitted to the court had "laid the entire blame" on journalist Ansar Abbasi, recalling that the former jurist had also maintained that he had not shared the affidavit with anyone.
He added that in similar circumstances, courts in the United Kingdom asked journalists to disclose their sources but the IHC would not do so.
"The judge [mentioned in] the affidavit was on leave at the time. Attempts were also made to cast doubt on the two judges on the bench," Justice Minallah said.
Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan noted that the font of the affidavit appeared to be Calibri — the same font used in key documents submitted by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz to a joint investigation team set up to probe the Panama Papers leak which were found to be 'faked'.
The IHC chief justice asked Shamim's counsel Lateef Afridi why the court should not go ahead with framing charges given the situation. Afridi responded that he had not prepared to argue on the framing of charges but Shamim had accepted that the affidavit belonged to him.
Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Vice Chairman, Amjad Ali Shah, who is amicus curiae in the case, said those named in the affidavit should submit their responses so proceedings in the case could move forward.
"Is the Pakistan Bar Council saying that prima facie, what is written in the affidavit is correct? "The judge [mentioned in] the affidavit was on leave at the time. Attempts were also made to cast doubt on the two judges on the bench," Justice Minallah said.
He added the PBC would have to take a "very clear stand" on the matter.
Justice Minallah said the matter had "nothing to do" with former chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar. "Go and do what you want to do with Mian Saqib Nisar," he remarked.
He explained that proceedings had started because of an attempt to make the IHC judges suspicious. "[This] perception is being created which everyone has started believing as true," Justice Minallah said.
"Where was that perception when bail was granted two weeks later by this same court?" he questioned.
The attorney general said that the concerned document was very important in a contempt of court case. Afridi responded that Shamim had said the affidavit was a "private document" and was written on his wife's request.
"Rana Shamim did not leak his affidavit to the press or give it to anyone. He also asked Ansar Abbasi where he had received it," the ex-judge's counsel argued.
"By now, even Rana Shamim must have come to know how sensitive this issue is," Justice Minallah said.
"Contempt cases of Firdous Ashiq Awan in this court and Imran Khan in the Supreme Count were formed. What happened in those cases? These cases come and the court has to show mercy in them," Afridi responded.
Judge says he was alone at time of notarising
Responding to a question from a reporter outside the court today, Shamim said "indeed" when asked whether he was alone at the time the affidavit was notarised.
It is pertinent to mention that a separate investigative report published in The Express Tribune last week had cited unspecified "evidence" and quoted Charles D. Guthrie — the London-based solicitor who had notarised Shamim's affidavit — as saying that the document was notarised at an office in Stanhope Place in Marble Arch, London, adding that the office belonged to Flagship Developments Limited, of which Nawaz's son Hasan Nawaz is a director and where top PML-N leaders often hold their meetings.
"In the evidence, Guthrie has confirmed three times that Shamim was present at Marble Arch," the story claims, adding that the notary also implied that Shamim was a close friend of Nawaz's.
Furthermore, the solicitor indicated that Nawaz was also present when Shamim signed the affidavit and took the oath.
Following the publication of The Express Tribune report, PTI leaders had assailed the Sharif family and branded them the "Sicilian mafia".