ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday fixed a petition seeking a probe into the video leak controversy involving accountability judge Arshad Malik for hearing on July 16.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa, will take up the petition moved by Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmed Mirza seeking an investigation into the matter to “bring the truth to light.”
He requested the top court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz and others for allegedly maligning the judiciary.
Mirza states in the petition that the leaked video, as it appears, raises questions over the judiciary’s independence.
It is imperative to carry out a probe into the allegations hurled at the judiciary, he argues.
Judge Malik had already dismissed the accusations leveled against him by Maryam Nawaz, the petitioner said, adding the allegation of a bribe offered to the judicial officer by the former prime minister’s sons to elicit a favourable verdict is of a serious nature.
He contended Maryam’s press conference amounts to contempt of court, requesting the top court to order the government to take measures to uphold the independence of the judiciary.
It is noteworthy that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decided today to remove accountability judge Arshad Malik from his post in the wake of a controversy revolving around the leaked videotape of the judge.
Judge Malik, last year in Dec, had handed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif seven years in jail in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case.
On July 6, Maryam Nawaz, addressing a presser, had claimed that the judge was coerced into convicting her father in the case.
