Penalise lady judge for contempt of Imran: Maryam

LAHORE: PML-N Central Vice President Maryam Nawaz strongly reacted on the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in contempt of court case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan. In a tweet on Wednesday, she said in fact, the punishment for contempt should be given to Judge Zeba Sahiba, who insulted the honour of Imran Khan by doing justice.

In another tweet, Maryam Nawaz said if nothing else was proved by the relaxation and facilities provided to Imran Khan, the injustices and excesses meted out to Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz have once again become evident in front of the entire nation. She sarcastically remarked that the female judge should be charged with contempt of court.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar alleged that the court was showing leniency to Imran. “In the past, it has been seldom seen that a person accused of contempt was allowed to leave the court without a punishment,” he said at a press conference in Islamabad.

Tarar said there was a perception that the PTI chief was still the “blue-eyed boy” of certain quarters and highlighted that it was important to dispel that impression by implementing the law equally on every person.

Referring to previous contempt of court cases faced by politicians, the minister said that they contrasted with the order passed by the IHC on Wednesday. He said the nation expected consistency, parity and unity in court decisions.

Tarar added that he had felt “strange” that the court had provided Imran another chance to reflect on his behaviour on charges as severe as contempt of court. Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Wednesday said justice must be seen to be done in the contempt of court case being heard by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against former prime minister Imran Khan.

The region’s most popular leader and three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif was barred from heading the party after his lifetime disqualification on account of not receiving salary from his son with the help of Black’s Law Dictionary and sent to jail along with his daughter, she said in a series of tweets.

If justice were to be done on the basis of popularity then why it was ignored in the case of Nawaz Sharif, the minister questioned. If Imran Khan has been given seven days time (to submit his reply in the contempt case) then Daniyal Aziz, Talal Chaudhry and Nihal Hashmi should also have been given such concession, she said, adding if today’s decision is right then the past verdicts (in the contempt of court cases) should also be corrected and if those (the past ones) were correct then the justice should be seen to be done in the instant case.