The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to decide the sentence suspension pleas filed by lawyer and rights activist Iman Mazari and her husband, activist Hadi Ali Chattha, while keeping the matter pending before the apex court until the high court issues a ruling.
A three-member bench comprising Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shafi Siddiqui heard the case pertaining to the suspension of the couple’s sentences.
In January, a district and sessions court in Islamabad sentenced the couple to 17 years imprisonment each under various provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), a day after they were arrested in another case.
During the hearing, counsel for Ms Mazari, Faisal Siddiqi, informed the court that the IHC had merely issued notices on the appeals against conviction and had not resumed proceedings for over two months.
“Our clients have received no relief from the Islamabad High Court,” the counsel argued, requesting the apex court to direct the high court to decide the sentence suspension pleas.
Justice Afghan observed that the IHC had neither passed an adverse order against the petitioners nor rejected their applications seeking suspension of sentence.
“If the high court had dismissed the suspension pleas, then we could have examined the matter on merits,” Justice Afghan remarked.
When the counsel questioned what remedy remained available if the IHC failed to provide relief, Justice Shahid Waheed observed that the Supreme Court could direct the high court to decide the appeals within two weeks.
However, the counsel insisted that the IHC should specifically be ordered to decide the applications seeking suspension of sentence.
