ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday stopped the Islamabad High Court (IHC) from initiating contempt of court proceedings against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and federal ministers in the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
The court also postponed hearings in the related case of Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui, Dr. Aafia’s sister, and issued notices to all parties involved.
On July 21, the IHC initiated contempt proceedings against Prime Minister Shehbaz and his entire cabinet for defying its order to provide reasons for not assisting a US court hearing the case of jailed neuroscientist Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan was hearing appeals filed by the federal government challenging a High Court order dated May 16, 2025. The government sought permission to amend its petition and sought that the earlier order be declared invalid.
The Islamabad High Court had earlier asked the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to clarify why they had not supported legal efforts against Dr. Aafia’s behalf in the US.
Read: IHC issues contempt to Shehbaz, cabinet in Dr. The Aafia case
The federal government argued that the proposed changes would exceed judicial authority and violate the finality of settled cases. It added that reopening a case that had long been closed would be contrary to established legal principles.
Officials stressed that the case is closely related to foreign policy and international law. The amended petition had requested that the government was constitutionally bound to take action to Dr. Siddiqui’s release and repatriation.
According to the government, in October 2024 the Prime Minister sent a letter to the US President in support of clemency for Dr. Afia. A high-level delegation was also sent to the United States to examine prisoner transfer agreements. However, the US authorities did not agree to such arrangements, the federal government said.
Dr. Aafia, a Pakistani neuroscientist currently incarcerated in the United States, was sentenced to 86 years in prison on charges of attempted murder—a sentence that significantly exceeds the U.S. legal maximum of 10 years for the crime.
She has been behind bars for 16 years and has been separated from her children for more than two decades.
Dr. Aafia was allegedly abducted in Karachi in March 2003 while traveling with her three children and subsequently disappeared for five years. It was later revealed in 2008 that she had been imprisoned in Afghanistan before being transferred to the United States.
While two of her children, Ahmed and Maryam, were released in 2008 and 2010 respectively, the whereabouts of her son Sulaiman remains unknown.
