Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar has given clarification a day after a heated exchange took place between him and Human Rights activist and lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir during the hearing of a plea filed on behalf of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Mahrang Baloch.
Heated exchange
During a hearing on Thursday, Justics Dogar warned Imaan of contempt of court case for allegedly calling him a “dictator”. “If I issue any order in this case, then Miss [Imaan] Mazari will go downstairs and do a programme, [saying] that a dictator is sitting [in the court],” Dogar said at one point.
At that, Mazari clarified that “whatever I have said was in a personal capacity”, adding that “it should not affect the client’s case.”
“If you have any prejudice against me, don’t let the client’s case be affected. I have come here with a brief, not in a personal capacity,” the lawyer added.
“You commented that I am not a judge but a ‘dictator’. Should we not initiate contempt of court proceedings against you,” Justice Dogar then asked.
Mazari clarified that she had not said anything beyond the jurisdiction of the law and the Constitution. “If you want to initiate contempt of court proceedings, then please do so. The Constitution has given me the right to freedom of expression, which is what I have used,” she added.
Addressing Mazari’s lawyer husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, the IHC chief justice then said: “Hadi Sahab, samjhay issy, kissi din ma nay pakar liya na… (Hadi sahib, make her understand; if I catch her someday…)”
Mazari then quipped, “If we are at a stage where courts will threaten lawyers, then go ahead with contempt of court [proceedings].”
IHC CJ Sarfraz Dogar clarification
“Imaan Mazari is like my daughters. Yesterday, I was just advising her, as the chief justice and as an elder. A storm was created for presenting my words out of context. I had said that you can talk about my judgment, but [she] should not make personal remarks,” Chief Justice Dogar has been quoted by court reporter Saqib Bashir as saying in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
The tweet further quoted Justice Dogar as saying, “I did not say that I will catch [her]. Hadi sahib was standing [there]. I just said grab her and take her away; otherwise, I will carry out contempt of court proceedings. If the proceeding is initiated, the child’s [Mazari] career would be ruined. I made him understand like a child, but she was not getting it, and kept saying ‘fundamental rights’. Don’t the courts have fundamental rights as well?”