Islamabad: The Judicial Department of the Superior Court of Islamabad (IHC) presented a report in the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, stating that the contempt of the Court notices served Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and her federal cabinet cannot be executed before solving certain legal problems.
The department placed a report in the case file of Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui, who seeks the release of her sister Dra. Aafia Siddiqui from an American prison, noting that the notices to Premier and her ministers for breach of the order were not executable.
In its report, the Office of the Registrar proposed the formation of a larger bank to deliberate on three central legal issues.
The office questioned whether a judge can assign cases to his court, violating the list of sitting. He also asked if a judge can listen to a case without the issuance of the list of approved causes and if the consent of several banks is mandatory for the consolidation of identical requests.
The IHC Registry Office proposes a larger bank to determine legality
The development follows the reallocation of the case of August 29 of the case of Judge Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, who had issued the contempt notices, to Judge Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas.
Change is part of a new “list of sitting” in force on September 1.
On July 21, Judge Ejaz Ishaq issued the notices; However, that particular procedure became questionable, since the judge was not included in the list of sitting approved by the President of Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar, since it was in an effective five -week license as of July 20.
Consequently, the registrar’s office was able to retain these notices, waiting for the approval of the competent authority.
After these developments, and according to the list of causes issued by the IHC Registry Office, Judge Raja Inaam Amen Minhas is now scheduled to address the case with a new audience date scheduled for September 1.
Meanwhile, under the new list, Judge Ejaz Ishaq has been placed in a special division bank with Judge Babar Sattar to listen to tax and commercial matters, a publication that prevents him from sitting as a single trial court and listening to such requests.
The request of Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui, pending in court since 2015, seeks to force Pakistan’s government to formally support Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, who was imprisoned in the United States in 2008 for terrorism charges. Until now, the Government has refused to submit an Amicus report in the courts of the United States in its name.
Posted in Dawn, August 31, 2025
