ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday sentenced six-month imprisonment to Deputy Commissioner (DC) Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon and two others in a contempt of court case.
A single bench of IHC Justice Babar Sattar announced its reserved verdict in the contempt of court case against Deputy Commissioner (DC) Irfan Nawaz Memon, SSP Islamabad and SHO for abusing and disregarding the high court orders declaring detention orders passed under MPO illegal, for obstructing administration of justice and denying citizens access to justice, and for setting at naught the remedies afforded by the justice system. The court also imposed Rs100,000 fine on each of them. Justice Sattar also directed that let a copy of this judgment be sent to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, to investigate whether Deputy Commissioners across Pakistan who continued to issue detention orders under MPO in breach of the law and the Constitution and judicial orders were acting in an organized manner on the basis of illegal orders, and if so, take appropriate remedial action to ensure that the authority of the state to be exercised through chosen representatives of people, continues to be exercised according to the Constitution and the law. The IHC initiated contempt of court proceedings due to the prolonged detention of PTI leader Shehryar Khan Afridi and Shandana Gulzar under the MPO Ordinance. In its written order, Justice Sattar stated that as this Court has come to the conclusion that respondents No. 1, 2 and 4 are guilty of contempt of court which has caused substantial detriment to the administration of justice, they are liable to be punished under section 5(1) of the Ordinance. He added that as has been highlighted in the law discussed earlier in this judgment, the purpose of punishment in a matter of criminal contempt is to uphold public interest in fair and unfettered administration of justice. He mentioned that Respondent No. 1 (the DC) issued orders to detain over 5 dozen citizens for almost 1000 days, which orders were found to be illegal, cannot without consequence. Justice Sattar pointed out that representative democracy is a salient feature of our Constitution. Executive authority is vested in the elected representatives of the people. Article 2A of the Constitution provides that, “the state shall exercise its authority through the chosen representative of the people.” The judge continued that they also threaten the existence of the Judiciary as an independent pillar of the state conferred with the responsibility of adjudicating grievances between the citizens and the state. If such policy of deliberate and calculated disregard for fundamental rights of citizens and rendering dysfunctional the machinery for enforcement of fundamental rights in the form of an independent Judiciary is allowed to persevere, there can be no rule of law in Pakistan. Further, the very existence and utility of the Constitution would come into question.