Newly constituted three-member tribunal to consider petitions filed by lawyer and husband
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court has scheduled hearing on petitions filed by lawyer and activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, seeking suspension of their sentences.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and comprising Justice Mussarat Hilali and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan will hear the case on July 6.
According to the petition, despite the defense lawyer’s repeated request to stay the trial court’s judgment, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) only issued notices on the stay applications on February 19 and did not suspend the 17-year sentences handed down to the couple due to controversial social media posts.
Earlier, on May 12, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, had directed the IHC to decide the applications “preferably within two weeks” while hearing the petitions filed by the couple. The case, however, remains pending before the Supreme Court.
Despite the SC’s instructions, the IHC is yet to decide on the applications. The matter is now before a differently constituted SC bench.
It remains unclear whether the matter was handed over to the new bench by the three-member committee constituted under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act.
The IHC last heard the case on June 1, when the prosecution requested time to prepare its arguments. The hearing was adjourned until June 4. However, the June 4 docket was canceled on June 2 and the case has not been relisted since then.
Subsequently, Faisal Siddiqi, lawyer of Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha, approached the SC seeking an early hearing in the matter. Interestingly, the petitions have now been listed before another SC bench.
Legal observers say the judiciary can take one of three solutions: refer the case to the IHC with instructions for an early decision, withdraw the apex court’s May 12 order, or decide the requests for suspension of sentence itself.
Meanwhile, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has challenged the SC’s earlier order directing the IHC to decide the couple’s suspension applications within a specified time frame.
In a concise statement submitted to the court in the same case, the NCCIA submitted that it is the consistent and long-standing practice of the SC not to interfere in cases pending before the high courts at the initial or interlocutory stage except in extraordinary or very exceptional circumstances.
