The Supreme Court has fixed May 12 for the hearing of petitions filed by human rights activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, seeking suspension of their prison sentences.A three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed will hear the applications. The bench will also include Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shafi Siddiqui.

The couple approached the apex court after challenging a decision issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on February 19 in a case linked to controversial anti-state social media posts.Earlier, on April 27, the Supreme Court Registrar Office raised procedural objections to the petitions and returned them to the applicants.  Four objections were identified by the registrar’s office, including incomplete power of attorney documents and insufficient personal details provided by counsel.

In addition, the SC registrar office also said the required certificate had not been submitted in the correct form. It is pertinent to mention here that just two weeks ago, on April 15, over 400 lawyers, belonging to the Islamabad Bar Council, Islamabad High Court Bar Association and Islamabad District Bar Association, submitted a joint resolution in the Islamabad Bar to show support for human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha, presently serving prison terms. 

Four important demands were put forward in the resolution submitted by lawyers, including former presidents of the High Court Bar Riyasat Azad, Attaullah Kundi, Babar Mumtaz, Haider Syed, Zainab Janjua, Aimal Khan Mandokhel and others.The lawyers demanded that petitions filed by the couple, seeking suspension in their sentences, be fixed for hearing at the earliest.

Their second demand was that a delegation of lawyers, including females, be allowed to visit the jail so that they could inspect the facilities provided to them there.Their third demand was that since both husband and wife were highly educated, they be provided B-class in jail. The lawyers said that since a jail trial was against the principles of justice, therefore, the couple should be produced in court for the hearing of their cases.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)