IHC orders Firdous Awan to submit written apology in contempt of court case
Firdous Ashiq Awan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information, has been ordered by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to submit a written apology in contempt of court case on Tuesday.
Firdous Awan appeared before the bench to offer an “unconditional apology”, her second appearance in the court in less than a week, for her remarks regarding a case.
Justice Minallah directed her lawyer to submit the written reply by Saturday and November 11 was set as the date for the next hearing.
Special Assistant to PM, through her lawyer, had requested the court to exempt her from appearing in person during the hearing.
Her request was rejected by Justice Minallah and he added that her presence in the court is beneficial for her.
Furthermore, Athar Minallah also asked the special assistant whether she had visited the district court. Talking about her visits to the district courts, Awan told, “The conditions under which the lawyers are working and helping the petitioners is commendable.”
Upon this, Chief Justice asked the special assistant to PM to improve the conditions of the district courts. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked, “You are the PM’s special assistant, resolve this issue.”
Justice Minallah also informed the special assistant that there was a terrorist incident in district court in the federal capital’s F-8 area.
Awan was directed to visit the district courts, along with the bar representatives, in the last hearing on the instructions of the chief justice.
The IHC chief justice also told the special assistant that he held the hearings of those arrested during the PTI sit-in on Sunday at the request of senior bar representative Niazullah Niazi.
Justice Minallah remarked, “During the sit-in, this court stopped [the government] from arrests.”
To this, Firdous Awan informed the court that she had joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf after the sit-in.
On October 30, IHC issued a notice to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Awan under Section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003, according to which she maligned the court while giving a statement that the hearing of a petition on the release of former premier Nawaz Sharif on Saturday evening was “a special dispensation”.
