The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday stayed trial proceedings against rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in a case pertaining to controversial social media posts until their pending appeals were decided by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The court issued the directives as a three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar and comprising Justice Salahuddin Panwhar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, heard Imaan’s appeal seeking to set aside the IHC’s Dec 1 order refusing to grant interim relief by staying the trial in the case.
Imaan and her husband Abdul Hadi Mohammad Ali – who are facing a trial under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (Peca) – had moved an application in the SC requesting the urgent hearing of their appeal against the IHC’s refusal to grant interim relief.
The petitioners have already filed a criminal revision before the IHC challenging the trial proceedings on grounds of due process violations under the CrPC, particularly the recording of evidence in their absence.
During the SC proceedings, Justice Kakar, while dictating the order, said, “We expect the IHC to decide on the fate of the petition after providing a full opportunity of hearing to both parties.”
The order stayed the trial court proceedings, which were scheduled to resume on Dec 15 by Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSI) Muhammad Afzal Majoka.
Imaan and her husband were represented by senior counsel Faisal Siddiqi whereas Additional Attorney General (AAG) Rana Asadur Rehman opposed the maintainability of the appeal.
During the hearing, Justice Kakar observed that it was common practice for the plaintiff to devise their own strategies to fight the case, but the court would neither belittle nor undermine the trial court judge.
Meanwhile, Norwegian Ambassador Per Albert Ilsas also attended the proceedings, which caused a lot of chatter on social media.
Responding to a journalist who termed the presence of the ambassador as a “breach of diplomatic norms”, Imaan said, “Who is going to explain to this genius that diplomats routinely observe court proceedings – that is not equivalent to them taking a position on any case.
“This is a standard practice but it’s very clear where the pressure is coming from to malign the ambassador,” she said.