IHC bench terminates contempt proceedings against Registrar, Deputy Registrar

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC), accepting appeal pleas, has concluding the contempt of court proceedings against Registrar and Deputy Registrar Security.

The contempt of court proceedings, being carried in the court of IHC Justice Babar Sattar have been concluded after the larger bench issued the decision today.

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The larger bench, including IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Muhammad Azam Khan and Justice Inam Amin Minhas issued the decision. The bench accepted the appeals of the petitioners Registrar Sardar Tahir Sabir and Deputy Registrar Security Muhammad Owais-ul-Hassan and issued a decision to terminate the contempt of court proceedings.

The court’s decision said, “When there is no judicial or administrative order, contempt of court proceedings cannot be initiated against the appellants,” adding that the court was informed that the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Bar had called for a strike on May 9, 2024.

“The judge termed the difficulties in lawyers appearing in courts as an obstacle to access to justice,” the IHC bench’s decision noted, adding that according to the case record, the judge wrote a letter saying that the plaintiffs were prevented from reaching the court.

The decision noted that the matter was first referred to the Senior Puisne Judge and then placed before the Administration Committee. “The Senior Puisne Judge said in the inquiry report on May 14 that the lawyers were not obstructed from going to court. The Islamabad High Court’s Administration Committee also reported on May 20 that no evidence was found to forcibly stop the lawyers.”

Afterwards, the case landed in Justice Babar Sattar’s court, to restore the dismissed petition on non-prosecution on May 21. The larger bench’s decision noted that the Registrar was asked to provide CCTV footage and, considering the response unsatisfactory, initiated contempt of court proceedings.

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Deputy Registrar Security was also issued a show cause notice despite being on leave on the day of the incident, the decision noted.

After considering the above details, the contempt of court proceedings against the Registrar and Deputy Registrar Security are terminated, the decision of the larger bench said.