Cannot imagine maligning judiciary, says Nehal Hashmi in reply to court
June 20, 2017
ISLAMABAD: Senator Nehal Hashmi submitted a reply in the Supreme Court on Tuesday over the contempt of court proceedings initiated against him, stating that he cannot even imagine maligning the judiciary.
The Supreme Court had initiated contempt proceedings early this month after a controversial speech by Hashmi was aired in the media.
In his 19-page reply submitted through his lawyer, Hashmat Habib, Hashmi has told the court he gave the speech only once but the media ran it multiple times, creating a hostile environment for him.
The reply stated that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairperson Imran Khan highlighted the speech and presented the remarks made in it out of context. Hashmi believed the incident to be a tactic played by his political rivals, as he "cannot even imagine to slander the judiciary".
While defending his stance on respecting the judiciary, Hashmi stated he is associated with the profession of law since the past 30 years and also stood by the judiciary during the 2007 lawyers' movement.
He also mentioned the background of his family in the reply, stating his grandfather was hanged for resisting the British rule.
Therefore, Hashmi has requested the court that the criminal case against him be quashed.
The step for a criminal case against Hashmi was initiated by Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali on the directions of the government.
According to sources, Ausaf had written a letter to the Sindh government over the issue, and a case was registered against him in the Bahadurabad Police Station in Karachi.
The proceedings against Hashmi started after a video surfaced on the social media in which the senator was seen threatening those probing the Sharif family in the Panama case, i.e. the judiciary. He was the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Sindh secretary-general when he made the speech.
Later, Hashmi was expelled by the PML-N leadership and directed to resign from the Senate, however, he refused to comply with the resignation orders.
