ISLAMABAD: Special Assis­tant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broad­casting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Saturday submitted another written unconditional apology to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for her allegedly contemptuous press conference.

In response to a notice issued to her by the court for committing the contempt of court, Dr Awan has tendered the unconditional apology and left herself at the mercy of the court.

The IHC is scheduled to take up the case on Nov 11.

The IHC on Oct 30 issued the contempt notice to Dr Awan under Section 3 of Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003, saying that she had maligned the court while claiming that hearing of a petition on the release of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was “a special dispensation”.

The court, however, discharged the notice after she tendered an unconditional apology.

However, the PM’s special assistant was issued another notice for committing the contempt of court and was directed to submit a written reply to the notice by Nov 5.

When she appeared before the court Dr Awan verbally apologised over the notice which was rejected by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah.

The IHC chief justice observed that Dr Awan had committed criminal contempt during her press conference and prima facie attempted to influence the proceeding in a sub judice matter and hence, she had tried to hinder the administration of justice.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2019