–Justice Siddiqui warns officials of initiating contempt proceedings if reports on agreement between TLYR and govt, and Zafarul Haq-led committee are not submitted
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday expressed displeasure at the government’s failure to submit the Senator Raja Zafarul Haq-led committee report into the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat amendment issue and details of the agreement between the Faizabad sit-in protesters and government, warning the officials of contempt proceedings if the reports were not promptly submitted.
Hearing the case, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui expressed displeasure at the government’s failure to present Haq’s report, as well as the defence secretary’s failure to submit the report regarding the agreement between the protesters and government and the mention of army chief’s name in it.
“We will not allow the matter to be brushed under the carpet,” the judge remarked.
Deputy Attorney General Arshad Kiyani informed the court that the signature of one member of the committee was not in the report, therefore, it could not be submitted. The court directed the defence secretary to resubmit the report at the next hearing.
The head of the Intelligence Bureau was present in court but also failed to submit the required audio recording after which he was summoned again on February 12.
Earlier, IHC declared the agreement between the government and Faizabad protesters unconstitutional and illegal, saying that the protesters committed blasphemy and the state surrendered before them.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, while hearing the case petitioned by ordinary citizens and the religious group, observed that the agreement doesn’t have any legal standing.
On November 6, workers of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) and activists of other religious groups camped at the Faizabad Interchange in Islamabad against the hastily-abandoned change in the oath of elected representatives, virtually paralysing the twin cities for more than two weeks.
Police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel had launched an operation against the protesters after the high court had ordered the clearance of the bridge that connects the federal capital with Rawalpindi. The same day, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa had advised Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to “handle the Islamabad dharna peacefully”.
