ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday hinted at indi­cting televangelist and Pak­istan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Aamir Liaquat Hussain on Sept 27 on contempt charges for violating earlier undertakings not to indulge in hate speech or use derogatory language against ind­ividuals, including media persons.

Mr Hussain, a PTI MNA from Karachi, tendered an unconditional apology before a three-judge SC headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, but the court decided to consider his apology once evidence against him in the contempt case is recorded.

The chief justice wondered whether Aamir Liaquat would remain a member of parliament if it was proved that the latter had committed contempt of court.

Orders initiating process of sealing properties of Ishaq Dar

Advocate Shahab Sarki, the counsel for Mr Hussain, conceded that if proven his client would lose his National Assembly membership.

The court had taken up petitions moved by anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada, Indepen­dent Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd, Mir Ibrahim-ur-Rehman and Najam Aziz Sethi accusing Mr Hussain of flouting the March 28, 2017 restraining order in which he was cautioned to desist from defamatory campaigns and unethical mode of conducting television shows.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had also imposed a fine of Rs20,000 on Mr Hussain for his absence during proceedings of the case and directed him to deposit the amount in the Diamer-Basha and Mohmand dams fund.

Senior counsel Faisal Siddiqui, representing the petitioners, had earlier contended that 13 orders had been passed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) and even bans were slapped on Mr Hussain on a number of occasions, but all in vain. Therefore, the PTI leader should be dealt with sternly for the breach of his earlier undertakings, the counsel argued.

In one of the video clips, the anchor was shown dubbing the chief executive of a private television channel ‘father of India, son of India’, etc, while in the other he had described the owner of the Jang Group and Najam Sethi as Indian agents. He was also accused of labelling the petitioners ghaddar (traitors) and gustakh (disrespectful) in his show Aisay Nahi Chalay Ga.

One of the petitions alleged that the anchorperson was running an active campaign against the applicants to defame and bring disrepute to them. Moreover, it said, Mr Hussain had a history of going in contravention of Pemra as well as earlier court orders. “The contemnor continuously abuses his power as a media person,” the petition contended, adding that Mr Hussain had time and again taken advantage of his position as media person by making statements which were completely out of context and without any evidence.

The petitioners requested the apex court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Mr Hussain under Article 204 of the Constitution and under provisions of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003. The petition had also sought a court order restraining him from defaming the applicants by halting the broadcast of his television show.

Ishaq Dar’s extradition

In a separate case, Additional Attorney General (AAG) Nayyar Abbas Rizvi informed the same Supreme Court bench that the diplomatic passport of former finance minister Ishaq Dar had been cancelled by the government, whe­reas his ordinary passport had already been blacklisted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Currently, the PML-N leader was not in possession of any travel document, he said.

The bench had taken up the case relating to non-appearance of Mr Dar before the court.

The AAG said efforts had been made through NAB for extradition of Mr Dar and the Pakistan High Commission in Britain had been asked to take appropriate measures in this regard. When the court asked how Mr Dar could be repatriated when he had no travelling documents, Mr Rizvi said a temporary passport could be issued for one-time travel.

When Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan recalled that an agreement was signed with the United Kingdom for extradition of government servants, the AAG said the government needed to approach courts in the UK for this process.

The court ordered initiating the process of sealing all properties of Mr Dar, when NAB Prosecutor General Syed Asghar Haider informed it that the bureau had identified the PML-N leader’s properties.

Diamer-Basha, Mohmand dams

On Tuesday, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar deplored criticism of collection of funds for construction of the Diamer-Basha and Mohmand dams and observed that those who dubbed it ‘begging’ should be ashamed of themselves for doing so.

During the hearing of a case relating to the Punjab Kidney and Liver Institute, he observed that construction of water reservoirs was of paramount importance that would benefit the entire country, adding that asking the people for national development and progress was not begging. The chief justice said the campaign was initiated out of love for the country, but “some falsely doubt our intentions”.

About the kidney institute, the court said the Punjab government would supervise the entire project, adding that the court would not tolerate any hurdles in the way of the project. The court ordered constitution of a committee under former Supreme Court judge Iqbal Hameedur Rehman to look into the affairs of the project.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2018