–Minister for interior tells court he believes in democracy and judiciary
LAHORE: Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday said that his statements regarding Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar was a complaint as he could never even think of insulting the judiciary.
The interior minister appeared before a three-member bench headed by Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi in a contempt case which was filed against him for an “anti-judiciary speech” made in April.
During the court proceedings, Ahsan Iqbal said that he cannot think of insulting courts.
“I am a political worker and believe in democracy and judiciary,” he added.
The court said that it only talks about the supremacy of law. Subsequently, the minister was directed to submit written reply in the court.
At the last hearing, the LHC had ordered Ahsan Iqbal to appear before the court on May 30 in the case after he had failed to appear.
His counsel Azam Nazir Tarar told the bench that the minister was in Saudi Arabia, due to which he could not appear before the court, but will do so in the next hearing.
Expressing scepticism at Tarar’s claim, Justice Atir Mehmood had asked if the minister “got up in the morning and suddenly decided to go for Umrah”.
Iqbal had not appeared in the last hearing as well since he was undergoing treatment after being shot earlier this month.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority’s (PEMRA) representative submitted the transcript of Iqbal’s alleged defamatory speech to the court.
A petition against the interior minister was filed in the LHC after he made a speech in a seminar last month where he had criticised the CJP for allegedly levelling baseless allegations against him, saying that the latter had “no right to name-call people”.
Iqbal was referring to remarks made by Chief Justice Nisar during a case in which the vice-chancellor of Lahore College for Women University, Prof Uzma Qureshi, was suspended. During the hearing, the chief justice had said that he knew Iqbal’s role in Qureshi’s appointment.
“You [Justice Nisar] must issue me a charge sheet. If you have evidence, produce it before me. But enough is enough,” the minister had challenged.
The Supreme Court had initiated several contempt proceedings against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders over their statements against the judiciary after the top court had disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding the PM Office in Panama Papers case and ordered National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to start corruption proceedings against the Sharif family.
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