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The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday accepted a contempt of court petition against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz for making speeches critical of the judiciary.
The father-daughter duo has drawn ire for their criticism of the Supreme Court's (SC) Panamagate verdict which disqualified the former PM for failing to disclose a receivable salary as an asset. The PML-N chief and Maryam have accused the court of bias and prejudice against Nawaz and have termed the decision an "insult" to the "public's vote".
Multiple petitions have been filed in different courts against Nawaz and Maryam accusing them of contempt of court.
Read: 'SC restraint should not be considered weakness'
During today's hearing on maintainability of the Jan 17 petition, petitioner Adnan Iqbal claimed that Nawaz and Maryam had been inciting hatred against courts since the Panamagate verdict, particularly in their recent speeches at Punjab House and the PML-N's Kot Momin rally.
The petition named the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority as a respondent and urged the court to take action against the former premier and his daughter.
The hearing of the case was fixed for next week.
Comments (15) Closed
NS should better stop repeating the reasons for his disqualification as it is too much. It creates the environment of friction and disobedience of rule of law.
Time has come for SC to send a strong message to Sharrifs to respect the honor of SC!
@jawaid Agreed, but has he ever learnt from history or has he ever accepted his mistake.
No institution or person in Pak is ready to learn from past mistakes. Rather they continue to commit the same mistakes time and again & expect that opponent should bow down regardless who is right or wrong. This is a feudal thinking, not a rational one:
@jawaid - Anything and everything against NS is likely to be accepted in the similar way.
Law should be the same for everyone, rich or poor, in power or powerless. Such contempt and a common man would have been sent to jail. I want justice. Treat these so called leader the same. Try them now.
Sad that we have such leaders.
This action should have been taken by SC long ago independently without any petitions from outside because sharif family has been insulting the courts everywhere since many months ago. Thanks
If courts can give punishments to shahid masood on contempt of court then Nawaz and Maryam have gone far beyond what shahid masood did.
How it unfolds is quite interesting. Following the interrogation/comments by journalists in a totally unrelated case, one grudge holder inquires the court about a totally different issue in a sour puss manner, leading to an exchange of views and filing of this petition the following day.
Extremely interesting developments.
It is upto the Judiciary to maintain its position and respect. The way some are criticizing and using bad words for Judiciary and honorable judges is unparell in the history of Pakistan. Had the SC taken a firm stand when the same group attacked Supreme of Pakistan some years back, they would not have dared to do what they are doing now. This is leaving a very bad example, if this phenomena remains unchecked others will also do the same thing in future.
Their lawyer will tender a written apology and we will move on
Simply, there are double standards in Pakistan, one for rich and powerful, and another for ordinary people. We have to change this mindset and unfair system, and justice should be same for everyone, no matter, who they are or what is their social status.
freedom is very selective in Pakistan. Only few can afford it ...it is a novelty..only rich and elite can have it and poor are deprived of it.Folks.True freedom requires the rule of law and justice and a judicial system in which the rights of some are not secured by the denial of rights to others. unfortunately throughout the history of Pakistan...The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. Without justice being freely, fully, and impartially administered, neither our persons, nor our rights, nor our property, can be protected. And if these, or either of them, are regulated by no certain laws, and are subject to no certain principles, and are held by no certain tenure, and are redressed, when violated, by no certain remedies, society fails of all its value; and men may as well return to a state of savage and barbarous independence.
Good move