Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal appeared before the Lahore High Court (LHC) in a contempt case on Wednesday.
Recording his statement before a three-member bench, headed by Justice Sayyed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi, he said his statement addressing the Chief Justice of Pakistan was just a complaint, and there was nothing contemptuous about it.
Earlier, Iqbal’s counsel, Advocate Azam Nazeer Tarar, informed the court that the interior minister wanted to present his response in the court himself. He said a written response would also be submitted in the court.
In his statement, Iqbal said, “I apologise for not appearing in the last hearing myself, an individual attacked me and I was injured. Afterwards, I had gone to perform Umrah to thank Allah for giving me to strength to recover from the injury.”
He added, “I am a political worker and I would never say anything that would disrespect the top court in any manner.”
At this, the court observed that under Article 68 of the Constitution, no one could disrespect public office holders.
Justice Jahangir Masood held that anti-judiciary rallies in Kasur, led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers, were a result of what Iqbal and other senior PML-N leaders had said. “As the interior minister, what steps did you take in Kasur?” the court questioned, adding, “Have you ever read Article 19 of the Constitution?”
Iqbal reiterated that he had never spoken in contempt and would never do so.
On May 2, an LHC full bench had summoned Iqbal for allegedly delivering an anti-judiciary speech. The three-member bench headed by Justice Naqvi that passed the order is also hearing petitions against PML-N quaid Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, and other leaders of ruling PML-N.
In his petition, advocate Azhar Siddique, the petitioner’s counsel, implored the court that the federal minister had delivered an anti-judiciary speech, which was aired by different TV channels. He contended that Iqbal’s speech was tantamount to contempt of court in view of recent court directives. The petitioner sought court directives for Iqbal’s disqualification under articles 63 and 64. He also requested the court for directives for Iqbal to return all salary and other incentives he had received from the state as a public servant.
Published in Daily Times, May 31st 2018.
