LAHORE: A full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) summoned Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal once again on Thursday to explain the “anti judiciary” remarks he apparently made in response to observations made by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar about his (Mr Iqbal) involvement in the appointment of a vice chancellor at a women’s university.

Previously, the bench headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi had sought an appearance from the minister on May 7. However, the minister could not appear in court as he was injured after an assassination attempt in Narowal, a day before the hearing.

The bench is seized with petitions against alleged anti-judiciary speeches made by some politicians, including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, at a rally held by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders from Kasur.

During the course of hearing, Justice Naqvi asked Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar, Mr Iqbal’s counsel, as to when his client was going to appear in court. The counsel stated that the minister had gone to Saudi Arabia for Umrah and would appear before the court during the next hearing.

Bench observes Ahsan Iqbal has enough time to hold pressers but no time to appear in court

The bench observed that Mr Iqbal had enough time to hold press conferences but no time to appear in the court. At this, Mr Tarar assured the bench that the minister would be there for the next hearing. The bench adjourned the matter till May 30.

Meanwhile, the bench sought prosecution witnesses in contempt of court proceedings against PML-N MNA Waseem Akhtar, MPA Naeem Safdar, municipal committee chairman Ayaz Khan, vice chairman Ahmad Latif, Nasir Khan and Jamil Khan. The bench adjourned this matter till May 29.

Earlier, Jamil Khan and Nasir Khan tendered an unconditional written apology while others opted to contest the proceedings against them.

Their counsel asked the bench for the provision of the CDs of the rally’s videos and all other relevant material. The bench directed its staff to supply all the relevant record to the lawyers of the suspects.

The bench also gave more time to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory (Pemra) to submit its reply on a civil miscellaneous application questioning alleged anti-judiciary speeches by Nawaz Sharif and his daughter despite an order passed by the court.

Justice Atir Mahmood and Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir are the other members of the full bench.

The LHC also granted pre-arrest bail to Mr Akhtar, Mr Safdar and two others in a case of staging an anti-judiciary rally in Kasur.

The other day, an anti-terrorism court refused to extend the interim bail previously granted to the suspects and withdrew the relief.

A division bench headed by Justice Naqvi granted interim bail to the suspects till May 29 subject to furnishing of surety bonds of Rs100,000 each and restrained the police from arresting them.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2018