An anti-terrorism court on Saturday issued a contempt of court notice to the Adiala jail superintendent over the alleged failure to facilitate legal documents required for the bail applications of human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Hazir-Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha.
ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra sought an explanation from the superintendent as to why he should not face six months’ imprisonment for allegedly failing to comply with the court’s directions concerning the signing and transmission of powers of attorney, or vakalatnamas.
The documents are necessary for the lawyers representing Imaan and Hadi to pursue their bail applications in a case registered at Kohsar police station over a protest.
Earlier this week, the court returned their bail applications because signed powers of attorney had not been attached.
During Saturday’s hearing, no representative from Adiala jail appeared before the court. Imaan and Hadi were also not produced through video link despite an earlier direction. Imaan’s mother, Dr Shireen Mazari, and a number of lawyers attended the proceedings.
Court staff said jail authorities had cited internet connectivity problems for the failure to arrange the video appearance. Judge Sipra expressed dissatisfaction with the explanation, noting that similar connectivity issues had previously been raised by the jail administration.
The judge recalled that experts from PTCL and NTC had earlier been directed to visit the prison to address the technical problems.
The court also examined whether the powers of attorney submitted by the defence lawyers to the sessions court had been collected for transmission to Adiala jail. The serial numbers of the submitted documents were presented before the bench.
Judge Sipra observed that an accused person’s ability to sign a vakalatnama and authorise legal representation was a fundamental right that could not be denied because of administrative difficulties.
The court subsequently issued a show-cause notice to the jail superintendent seeking an explanation for the alleged non-compliance and adjourned further proceedings until Tuesday.