ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday restrained the Islamabad High Court (IHC) from initiating contempt of court proceedings against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and federal ministers in the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
The court also adjourned hearings in the related case of Dr Fauzia Siddiqui, Dr Aafia’s sister, and issued notices to all parties involved.
On July 21, the IHC initiated contempt proceedings against Prime Minister Shehbaz and his entire cabinet for ignoring its order to provide reasons for not assisting a US court hearing the case of incarcerated neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan, heard appeals filed by the federal government challenging a High Court order dated May 16, 2025. The government sought leave to amend its petition and sought that the previous order be declared null and void.
The Islamabad High Court had earlier asked the Prime Minister and the cabinet to clarify why they did not support legal steps in favor of Dr Aafia in the United States.
Read: IHC sends contempt notices to Shehbaz and cabinet in Dr Aafia case
The federal government argued that the proposed changes would overstep judicial authority and violate the finality of decided cases. He added that reopening a long-concluded case would contravene established legal principles.
Officials stressed that this case is closely linked to foreign policy and international law. The amended petition demanded that the government be constitutionally obliged to take steps for the release and repatriation of Dr Siddiqui.
According to the government, in October 2024, the Prime Minister sent a letter to the US President requesting a pardon for Dr Aafia. A high-level delegation was also sent to the United States to study prisoner transfer agreements. However, U.S. authorities have not agreed to such arrangements, the federal government said.
Dr. Aafia, a Pakistani neuroscientist currently incarcerated in the United States, was sentenced to 86 years in prison for attempted murder – a sentence far exceeding the U.S. legal maximum sentence of 10 years for the crime.
She spent 16 years behind bars and has been separated from her children for more than two decades.
Dr Aafia was reportedly intercepted in Karachi in March 2003 while traveling with her three children and then disappeared for five years. It was later revealed in 2008 that she had been imprisoned in Afghanistan before being transferred to the United States.
Although two of his children, Ahmed and Maryam, were released in 2008 and 2010 respectively, the whereabouts of his son Sulaiman remain unknown.
