Contempt of court: Nehal Hashmi submits reply in SC

ISLAMABAD: Senator Nehal Hashmi on Tuesday submitted his reply in the Supreme Court over contempt of court proceedings initiated against him over threatening speech, which had gone viral on internet.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan had taken suo moto notice of Hashmi’s threatening remarks and summoned him to the court.

The apex court on June 01 served contempt of court notice to the Senator and sought response from him, who failed to submit reply twice.

A three-member Special Implementation Bench of the PanamaLeaks, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsen on June 16, observed that Senator Nehal Hashmi was playing games with the court, while giving him another chance to submit his reply to the show-cause notice issued to him for his speech-- threatening the institutions of dire consequences.

Today, in his 19-page reply submitted through his lawyer, Hashmat Habib, Nehal Hashmi told the court he gave the speech only once but the media ran it multiple times, creating a hostile environment for him.

Also, PTI Chief Imran Khan highlighted his speech and presented the remarks made in it out of context, the reply says. Hashmi believed the incident to be a tactic played by his political rivals, as he "cannot even imagine to slander the judiciary".

While defending his stance on respecting the judiciary, Hashmi stated he is associated with the profession of law since the past 30 years and also stood by the judiciary during the 2007 lawyers' movement.

Therefore, Hashmi has requested the court that the criminal case against him be quashed.

The step for a criminal case against Hashmi was initiated by Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali on the directions of the government.