SC indicts cleric on contempt charges for insulting judiciary

The Supreme Court on Wednesday indicted cleric Mirza Iftikharuddin on contempt charges for using derogatory video against the judiciary and senior judges in a viral video.

A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the case, giving him a week to respond to the charges.

The court framed charges against the accused and handed over a copy of the charge sheet to his counsel and directed to submit a reply at the next if the accused confesses to the charges.

Justice Ahmad in June had taken suo motu notice of the video containing derogatory, contemptuous and scandalous language against the judiciary, specifically Justice Isa. Subsequently, Mirza filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, tendering unconditional apology and claiming that in a “private meeting” he “unintentionally” uttered some words against honourable judges.

He had also claimed that the video was neither recorded nor made viral on social media with his consent. The court, however, rejected his apology and charged him with contempt of court under Section 5 of the Contempt of the Court Ordinance, 2003.

On the basis of the video clip, the wife of Justice Isa had lodged a complaint with the Secretariat police station in Islamabad on June 24, saying the life of her family was in danger as they were receiving threats of dire consequences.

In his apology, Mirza Iftikhar said he was 67 years of age and a chronic cardiac patient with blockage of main arteries. Doctors had advised him an open-heart surgery, he said, adding that he was also suffering from hypotension and other similar diseases.

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