Islamabad: After Judge Saman Rafat Imtiaz was aware of a complaint, filed by the lawyer Imaan Mazari against the Superior Court of the Islamabad Court, Sarfraz Dogar, the Court administration stripped the judge of his powers to entertain the complaints of harassment.
Mrs. Mazari previously approached the IHC Antibusions Committee, and also sent a reference against CJ Teraw the Supreme Judicial Council.
In response to his complaint, Judge Imtiaz, being the “competent authority”, not only entertained the complaint, but also formed an investigation committee in consultation with his fellow judges.
A circular of his office said that, being the competent authority under the protection against the harassment of women in the 2010 Labor Law, the investigation committee comprised of Judge Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Judge Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Judge Imtiaz have been formed to carry out an investigation on the complaints of harassment against the IHC courts.
Imaan Mazari-hazir also moves before SJC
However, the Court administration quickly dismissed it as the competent authority and replaced it with Judge INAAM AMEEN MINHAS.
According to the Judicial Registry, a similar committee was already constituted in 2019, which includes the Member Inspection Team (MIT), Deputy Directors and Registrars Assistants under said Law, to investigate the accusations of harassment. However, a senior IHC official said that the law was not applicable to the judges, since they could only be accused by virtue of article 209 of the Constitution.
Another reason to dismiss Judge Imtiaz was that, being the competent authority, it could not be part of the investigation committee. Subsection 4 of Section 4 of the Law says: “The Investigation Committee will present its conclusions and recommendations to the competent authority within thirty days after the start of the investigation.”
Last week, Ms. Mazari and CJ Dogar had an achadered exchange during the audience of the case. At that time, Judge Dogar had warned Mrs. Mazari of contempt and it was reported that he had approved warning comments in the “get it” line. Mrs. Mazari said she was only fulfilling her professional duty and that she was ready to face the contempt procedures.
Separately, the National Agency for Investigation of Cyber Crime (Nccia) presented a Challan in the controversial case of tweets against Mrs. Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chatha, in the Court of the Civil Judge Abbas Shah.
The court also issued the defendant and ordered that copies of the Challan be provided at the next hearing, scheduled for September 17.
The NCCIA had registered a case against it on the alleged controversial tweets under the laws of cyber crimes. Both defendants face positions of violating online content regulations, which authorities argue that they could incite the riots.
Posted in Dawn, September 16, 2025
