Police officers walk past the Supreme Court of Pakistan building in Islamabad, Pakistan April 6, 2022. REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court’s justice office has refused to grant lawyer Imaan Mazari’s petition for a stay of his sentence in a case related to making anti-government posts on social media and raising objections to it.
The human rights lawyer had moved the apex court after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) did not list her application for suspension of her 17-year imprisonment for hearing.
Mazari filed the petition through renowned lawyer Faisal Siddiqi.
The petition stated that despite her lawyer’s strong request to stay the high court’s judgment, the IHC only issued notices of the suspension application on February 19 and did not suspend the petitioner’s sentence.
It is learned that the SC Registrar’s office has raised four objections to the petition. It has stated that the power of attorney has not been properly executed; name, registration and cell number of lawyer are not available and subject, prayer, clause and certificate are not correctly drawn.
However, the petitioner’s counsel will soon move an application to set aside objections from the Registrar’s Office. If the petition is assigned a number, a three-judge committee comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail will decide on the conduct of the case.
