The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has reserved the verdict on contempt of the court case against Deputy Commissioner (DC) Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon and senior officers.
The reserved verdict on the contempt of the case would be announced on March 1. Justice Babar Sattar of IHC heard the contempt of the court case registered against DC Islamabad.
The court has rejected the plea for an unconditional apology filed by DC Islamabad and also prohibited the DC from traveling abroad. The court has ordered the DC Islamabad to submit a reply to the showcase notice by Monday.
DC Islamabad did not appear before the court in the contempt of court case yesterday (Tuesday), claiming that he was scheduled to offer pilgrimage. DC Islamabad, Irfan Nawaz, also asserted that he had appeared before the court in as many as 18 hearings in this case.
The court questioned how the convict DC could be absent from the case hearing when the contempt of court case hearing was ongoing; the case would have been disclosed yesterday. The court has also rejected another appeal filed by DC Islamabad to transfer the case to another hearing bench.
Justice Babar Sattar remarked that the DC has issued 69 Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) for 970 days, violating his jurisdiction.
DC Islamabad’s counsel stated that the District Magistrate issued detention and arrest orders for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shehryar Afridi in the wake of the May 9 riots incident.
The counsel added that there was no negative intention behind issuing the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) order and urged the court to consider the entire situation. The second MPO was issued by DC Rawalpindi, and he committed contempt of court, he must be convicted, the counsel argued.
“On August 5, Shehryar Afridi’s party leader was arrested. The situation of May 9 is also in front of everyone,” he said, adding that the Intelligence Bureau informed the capital’s administration about the worsening law and order situation and agitation.
The district intelligence committee, he added, included representatives of all sensitive agencies and expressed fear of attacks on government buildings, GHQ Chowk near F-9 Park in Islamabad.
The counsel of DC Islamabad, Raja Rizwan Abbasi, argued that Shehryar Afridi used provocative and hate-inciting speech to disrupt law and order. The transcript of Shehryar Afridi’s violent speeches was also present before the court during the hearing.
He asserted that DC has no intention to undermine the due legal proceedings and violate the court’s authority, pleading the court to dismiss the contempt of court case against DC Islamabad Irfan Nawaz.
The court also heard the case of Islamabad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Jamil Zafar for exceeding their authority by issuing orders under Section 3 of the MPO. SSP Jamil Zafar has sought pardon from the court, and the court remarked that it will issue the judgment next week.
A day before (Tuesday), the court issued an arrest warrant against DC Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon. The court also ordered to include the name of DC Islamabad in the Exit Control List (ECL).
