IHC dismisses contempt of court appeal against DC Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday rejected the appeal regarding contempt of court charges against Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon and other officials.

The officials are accused of exceeding authority and arresting PTI leader Shehryar Afridi under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance in violation of court orders.

Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan conducted the hearing and dismissed the intra-court appeal regarding contempt of court against the Deputy Commissioner.

Advocate Raja Rizwan Abbasi appeared on behalf of DC Islamabad. A single bench comprising Justice Babar Sattar charged the Deputy Commissioner and will hear the contempt of court case tomorrow.

The IHC dismissed the appeal of the Deputy Commissioner as inadmissible. The DC Islamabad had challenged the single bench’s decision on contempt charges.

Last month, the IHC framed charges against Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon and three others in a contempt case initiated over the prolonged detention of PTI leaders Shehryar Afridi and Shandana Gulzar under the MPO ordinance.

Justice Babar Sattar also indicted Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Jamil Zafar, Superintendent (SP) Farooq Buttar, and Station House Officer (SHO) Nasir Manzoor while presiding over the hearing of the case.

The IHC judge indicted the officials after rejecting their unconditional apology in the case, saying all four would face contempt proceedings.

Earlier, the high court had ordered immediate relate of PTI leaders Shehryar Afridi and Shandana Gulzar after suspending a detention order. The court had ordered that Deputy Commissioner (DC) Irfan Nawaz Memon and police officers would be indicted for contempt of court over abuse of authority.

Afridi and Gulzar were detained by Islamabad Police under the MPO Ordinance for their alleged involvement in the May 9 violence, triggered following the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan earlier this year.

Afridi was in police custody since May 16 and was arrested by police multiple times after local courts ordered his release. Shandana Gulzar was arrested by Islamabad police on August 9. Her mother had filed a plea in the IHC against her daughter’s detention.

During the August 16 hearing, Justice Sattar expressed displeasure over the repeated arrests of Afridi under the MPO order and declared it null and void. He said the SSP operations submitted an unsatisfactory response, and ordered that contempt of court action will be taken against him and DC Islamabad.