• Humayun Dilawar ‘cites threats’, transferred and made OSD
• PTI lawyers stage walkout to protest adjournment, get trapped in lift

ISLAMABAD: Though Friday proved to be somewhat anticlimactic for PTI supporters who had hoped Imran Khan’s jail term would be suspended, there was no dearth of drama, inside and outside the courtroom.

While the Islamabad High Court (IHC) adjourned the Toshakhana reference to Monday, Chief Justice Aamer Farooq ordered the transfer of the additional district and sessions judge who convicted the ex-prime minister in the same case earlier this month.

Also, PTI lead counsel Sardar Latif Khan Khosa walked out of the courtroom to protest the bench’s decision to adjourn Mr Khan’s petition, seeking the suspension of his sentence, for two days.

Following his conviction, the ECP had disqualified Mr Khan under Article 63 of the Constitution.

However, on the way down from the court building’s third floor, Mr Khosa became trapped in the elevator along with some other lawyers and vloggers. They remained stuck in the elevator for over 40 minutes and were eventually rescued by Rescue 1122.

Earlier, when the division bench — also consisting of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri — resumed the hearing, ECP counsel Amjad Pervaiz was not present. His associate informed the bench that Mr Pervaiz was suffering from dehydration and would be unable to argue the case.

The bench expressed displeasure over the request to adjourn the case and Mr Khosa argued the court could suspend the sentence even without putting the prosecution on notice.

He pointed out that the trial court had convicted Mr Khan without hearing the defence counsel and jailed him for three years, and insisted that the IHC bench could do the same and order Mr Khan’s release without listening to the ECP.

At this point, the IHC chief justice remarked: “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

The bench suggested that the hearing could be adjourned till Monday and if the ECP’s counsel was not available at the next hearing, the court would decide the petition in accordance with the available record.

“We will not appear on Monday,” said Mr Khosa and insisted the bench issue the release order for Mr Khan.

“In case the ECP’s counsel would justify incarceration, the court could send Mr Khan to prison again,” he added.

However, as the bench decided to adjourn the hearing, Mr Khosa along with about a dozen other lawyers walked out of the courtroom, chanting “shame, shame” and other pro-Imran slogans.

Mr Khosa had completed his arguments a day earlier, focusing on three aspects: Mr Khan’s release owing to his short sentence, jurisdictional defects, and improper authorisation by the ECP.

Judge made OSD

Also on Friday, the IHC chief justice ordered the transfer of ADSJ Judge Humayun Dilawar, making him an officer on special duty (OSD) and directing him to report to the Islamabad High Court.

It is worth noting that during the hearing of Mr Khan’s appeal a day earlier, Justice Farooq had hinted at exercising the powers vested with the chief justice under Section 203 of the Constitution.

The said Article gives supervisory powers to the high court on the subordinate courts. The Article says: “Each High Court shall supervise and control all courts subordinate to it.”

During the hearing, Mr Khosa argued that the trial court judge had disobeyed the high court’s directions and instead of examining the jurisdiction and maintainability of the complaint, had convicted Mr Khan.

The CJ had observed that the court would look at the ‘haste’ shown by ADSJ Dilawar administratively.

Meanwhile, a senior officer of the district judiciary told Dawn that ADSJ Dilawar had written to the IHC for his transfer on Aug 17. In his letter, the judge pointed out protests by PTI’s lawyers in his courtroom, the trolling he faced on social media and a campaign against him during his training at the University of Hull, UK.

The judge stated in the letter that his “family in native town received threats from beyond the border”, adding that due to certain apprehensions and threats to himself and his children, he had requested the high court to relieve him from judicial assignment, seeking a posting in the G-11 Judicial Complex or Islamabad High Court.

Faulty lift

The elevator at the court building has the capacity to accommodate 10-12 persons. On Friday, before it got stuck, some PTI lawyers and vloggers also got into the lift alongside Mr Khosa.

On Thursday, former additional advocate general Punjab Razzaq A. Mirza was also briefly trapped in the same lift along with five lawyers.

The elevator carrying Mr Khosa and others stopped just above the exit of the second floor. Initially, police officials and lawyers tried to open the ground floor’s door of the elevator.

Rescue 1122 workers reached the IHC about half an hour later, and recovered all those trapped from the second floor. Some PTI lawyers termed the incident part of a conspiracy. However, the IHC insisted it was purely a technical issue, and that a complaint about the malfunctioning elevator had been lodged with the officials concerned.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2023