The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday brought to a close the long-pending contempt of court proceedings against former Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Chief Judge Rana Muhammad Shamim, disposing of the case that originated from a contentious sworn statement alleging judicial interference.
The legal action was initiated after Rana Shamim’s affidavit controversially claimed he had overheard the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar, directing a High Court judge to prevent the release of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz from jail in corruption cases.
During the hearing presided over by IHC Chief Justice Sardar Sarfraz Dogar, the court was informed by Advocate Amir Abdullah that his client, Rana Shamim, had previously submitted an apology. Following this submission, the matter had not been scheduled for further proceedings until now.
The Deputy Attorney General pointed out to the court that the case had been relisted after a significant delay. He also noted that the indictment in this matter had been framed exclusively against the former GB judge.
This development follows a series of changing positions from Rana Shamim. During a hearing in 2022, he had distanced himself from the contents of his controversial declaration. A year earlier, in 2021, he had partially retracted his statements and tendered an unconditional apology before the court.
In his 2021 apology, Shamim had clarified that no sitting judge of the Islamabad High Court was involved in the alleged incident. However, he maintained his stance concerning the allegations leveled against the former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar at that time.
The contempt proceedings were initiated when the then IHC Chief Justice, Athar Minallah, took suo motu notice after the explosive affidavit was published in a newspaper, prompting a high-profile judicial inquiry into the matter.