- Reference not supported by judicial precedent: ruling.
- Remarks deleted below but erroneously included in judgment: judge.
- Observation mentioned 4 countries designated as “terrorist states”.
An Islamabad court has ordered the removal of a controversial clause mentioning “terrorist states” from the judgment that convicted lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in a controversial tweet case last week.
In a ruling, Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka said the controversial clause was added “due to a clerical error which is not supported by any provision of law, judicial precedent, executive notification, international instrument or authoritative reference, so the same can be deleted because this sentence is vague and ambiguous”.
The judgment further noted that the stenographer mentioned in written reply that this sentence along with other sentences was deleted during the correction of the judgment but at the time of final printing it was mistakenly included and “that this error on his part is bona fide”.
The now deleted paragraph, which stood as paragraph 36 on page 18, mentioned that the four countries are currently designated as terrorist states.
During a weekly press briefing a day earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan “does not subscribe” to the judge’s statement.
“We have seen the judgement. These are the views of the learned judge. Of course, Pakistan does not subscribe to this opinion. This kind of designation of terrorist states does not exist either in the language of the United Nations or under international law,” he added.
