The Islamabad District and Sessions Court on Wednesday recalled the non-bailable arrest warrants issued against prominent human rights defenders and lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chatha after the two appeared in court for their hearing.
Arrest warrants had been issued for the two lawyers yesterday for failing to appear before the court in a case related to controversial tweets. A junior lawyer informed the court that Mazari and Chatha had left for another appearance in Rawalpindi after marking their attendance earlier in the day.
The case was heard by Judge Mohammad Afzal Majoka, with police deployed outside the courtroom for tight security.
While the couple appeared in court today, they did not respond with a confirmation or denial when their indictment was read out to them.
“We, the lawyers, will do it, and then we can respond to the court in this regard,” Chatha said. “There is a new request regarding our documents … No charges can be filed until this application is decided.”
Judge Majoka directed the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to provide documents to the accused and adjourned the hearing until 11:30am.
Later, when the documents were provided, the prosecution expressed ignorance regarding the first written statement. The accused had applied to obtain the written statement submitted to the Federal Investigation Agency.
Former High Court Bar president Riyasat Ali Azad, District Bar president Naeem Gujar, and former District Bar president Qaiser Imam also appeared before the court.
The court wrote a decision on a miscellaneous petition filed regarding the statement of 161 and other documents. The two decided to challenge the current phase of the charge frame.
The lawyers representing Mazari and Chatha requested the court for more time, which was granted. The hearing has been adjourned until October 7.
The court recorded its order on a miscellaneous application regarding statements under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)
and other documents. The section deals with the power of the police to examine witnesses orally during an investigation and to reduce their statements into writing.
Initially, the prosecution expressed ignorance about the written statements, but once the court began dictating its order, the statements were handed over. Mazari and Chatha had earlier applied for access to their written statements submitted before the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Subsequently, their counsel decided to challenge the framing of charges at this stage and requested additional time from the court. The request was accepted, and the hearing was adjourned until October 7.
Last week, Mazari filed a grievance letter over “inaction” on her workplace harassment complaint against Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar.
Justice Dogar had warned Mazari of a contempt of court case and was reported to have gone as far as passing warning remarks along the lines of “getting a hold of her”. Multiple lawyers’ bodies had issued condemnatory statements and called for the judge’s dismissal from the post of the IHC top judge.
Mazari approached an inquiry committee of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against IHC Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar earlier in September following the altercation between them the previous week.
