ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court finally pardoned Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz loyalist Nehal Hashmi on Tuesday after he pleaded for mercy and extended unconditional apology for his recent jibe against the judiciary.

Representatives of different bar councils and associations also requested the apex court to disregard the ‘indefensible and condemnable outbursts’ of the former senator who after serving one-month jail sentence announced that he was not ashamed of the contemptuous remarks against the judiciary.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, observed that Advocate Hashmi’s fate would depend upon the wording he chose in furnishing an unconditional apology.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial, a member of the bench, made it clear to the bar leaders that the PML-N leader had been justifying his acts, though he should have taken responsibility of whatever he had uttered before the court.

In his written unconditional apology, Advocate Hashmi said he was highly regretful of his unbecoming conduct and submitted his unconditional apology and also placed himself at the mercy of the court and sought forgiveness. “I solemnly assure and undertake that I will not give any cause of complaint of any sort in future to the courts in respect of my conduct,” he stated.

SHCBA suspends his professional licence for three months; SHC tribunal to decide his case

He humbly prayed that his unconditional apology kindly be accepted and the proceedings of contempt of court initiated against him be dropped graciously.

The last time the Supreme Court sent him to Adiala prison on contempt charges was on Feb 1 for his outburst on May 28, 2017 in which he threatened members of the SC-appointed Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and the judiciary for probing the allegations against his party leadership and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in the Panama Papers case. The court sent him to jail for one month with a fine of Rs50,000.

The contempt proceedings against Advocate Hashmi were again initiated on contemptuous outburst of the former senator soon after his release from Adiala jail.

Earlier bar leaders came to the rostrum one by one and asked the court to drop the contempt of court proceedings against him.

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Pir Kareem Khurshid regretted that he had no words to justify what Mr Hashmi had uttered. He added that it would be the bar’s failure if they failed to protect the dignity and prestige of this institution. He requested the court to take a lenient view and accept Mr Hashmi’s apology.

Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Kamran Murtaza argued that the survival of legal profession was linked with the dignity and honour of the judiciary. He said it would only add to the dignity of the judiciary if the court showed magnanimity and grace by exonerating Mr Hashmi.

Former SCBA president Rasheed A. Rizvi said the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SCHBA) had already suspended the professional licence of Hashmi for three months and had referred his case to a tribunal headed by a judge of the Sindh High Court.

“Let the law takes its own course,” Mr Rizvi added.

Former PBC vice chairman Ahsan Bhoon said all bar council members had discussed the issue threadbare and it was their considered opinion that Mr Hashmi’s tirade was not acceptable to anyone. The leaders of the bar were not the counsel for him rather part and parcel of the judiciary and stood for this institution, he added.

He said he believed the conduct of Mr Hashmi was “not a reaction of a normal person but that of a mad man”. He said it would only add to the grace of the institution if the court showed magnanimity in this case.

Penalty sought

However, senior counsel Naeem Bokhari sought punishment for the firebrand Hashmi. Mr Bokhari said he was at the twilight of his life at the age of 70 and believed that senior lawyers had more responsibility on their shoulders. He regretted: “We, the lawyers, have become hoodlums and no judge whether from the high court or the civil courts is safe from our boorish behaviour.

“The majesty of law will be served if we set a high example.”

Mr Bokhari regretted that Mr Hashmi had committed contempt not once but twice and even was garlanded yet he had the audacity to seek for mercy of the court. When he cited the example of Lord Alfred Denning, the chief justice recalled how a lady had thrown a shoe but the lord ducked and responded smilingly that he was sure the shoe was not aimed at him.

Advocate Ibrahim Satti recalled how in 1997 Mr Hashmi’s party had stormed the apex court and asked for setting some examples.

The court later pardoned Mr Hashmi with an observation that this should not be treated as precedence and nobody should consider that he had the licence to bring the judiciary into hatred through their derogatory observation.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2018