ISLAMABAD – An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Saturday issued a show-cause notice for contempt of court to the superintendent of Adiala Jail over the failure to produce Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, through video link and provide their signed power of attorney documents.
ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Supra was hearing a case concerning the non-provision of vakalatnamas required for filing bail applications on behalf of Mazari and Hadi.
The jail authorities again failed to obtain and provide the signed power of attorney documents from the two accused. No representative of the jail administration appeared before the court, while Mazari’s mother, Shireen Mazari, and a number of lawyers attended the proceedings.
The court had also directed that Mazari and Hadi be produced through video link. However, the two were not presented despite the judicial order.
Taking notice of the failure, Justice Supra issued a contempt of court show-cause notice to the Adiala Jail superintendent and sought an explanation as to why he should not be sentenced to six months in prison for disobeying the court’s orders.
The judge cautioned the jail superintendent against disregarding court directives, saying that the jail authorities should neither “corner the courts nor corner themselves.”
During the proceedings, court staff informed the judge that the accused were still not being produced through video link. Jail officials cited an internet connectivity problem as the reason.
Justice Supra recalled that similar connectivity issues had previously been reported by the jail authorities. He said he had earlier directed PTCL and the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) to send technical experts to the jail after repeated complaints about poor internet service.
He observed that technical experts had also been ordered to visit the jail from Haripur to resolve the issue.
The judge stressed that receiving a signed power of attorney from an accused was a fundamental legal right and could not be denied.
The court subsequently issued the contempt notice to the jail superintendent and adjourned the hearing until Tuesday.
