The Supreme Court of Pakistan Thursday rejected an unconditional apology submitted by Maulvi Iftikhar-ud-Din Mirza for threatening Justice Isa and slandering the judiciary and issued him a contempt of court notice, a private TV channel reported.
A two-member bench presided over by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed heard the case in which the attorney general and the lawyer representing Mirza appeared before the court. Mirza’s lawyer told the court that his client has apologised unconditionally for using derogatory language to which Justice Ajaz-ul-Ahsan said that the court does not have a copy of the apology letter. “The words which were used, can they be used (against judiciary)? How can we accept an apology in such a case?” he remarked, adding that the report has been filed with the Federal Investigation Agency.
Justice Ahsan said that according to the AG, the case terrorism and criminal charges can be included in the case, adding that there is no point in submitting a written apology. During the case’s proceedings, the chief justice told Mirza’s lawyer that his client should be sent to jail for six months. “You (lawyer) seem to be unaware of the seriousness of the case, you are taking it too lightly,” he said.
To which, the lawyer argued that his client is a heart patient and the court should take this into consideration. “So what can we do? He (Mirza) should have kept his tongue in check … in this case there is nothing that can be done regarding mercy,” remarked the chief justice. The attorney general in his remarks sided with the chief justice, saying that Mirza deliberately passed the comments by taking judges’ names, so it cannot be an unintentional move. “Iftikhar-ud-Din Mirza’s video was not made by a child, he has his own video channel and earns through it. Such a language is not even used on the streets,” remarked Justice Ahsan.
