Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah said on Friday that when it came to matters of the Constitution, or of the oppressed classes, the courts would open at 3 AM if they had to.
The statement was made during the hearing of a petition filed against the alleged harassment of anchorperson Arshad Sharif, where he was being represented by lawyer Faisal Chaudhry.
During the hearing, CJ Minallah addressed Sharif and his lawyer, and asked if they had watched Kashif Abbasi’s show on television, during which he alleged that Abbasi had made comments without confirming facts.
Questioning whether there were political motivations behind Abbasi’s claims, Minallah said “Kashif Abbasi had asked why the courts were opened at midnight. A narrative had been built that the courts were opened at night upon someone’s directives.” He added that such a narrative only further weakened people’s confidence and trust in courts.
The CJ said that courts operating after working hours was not some unheard thing, as they have a responsibility to uphold justice regardless of the time.
He further asked: “Wouldn’t history be different if the courts had opened on July 4, 1977, and October 12, 1999? Do you think your news channel understands the Constitution better than the courts? The courts had been opened to protect basic rights.”
The judge asked the lawyer if he would want the courts not to open when there is an urgent matter, adding that these narratives would ‘lead people nowhere’.
“You should be happy that the violation of the Constitution was not allowed. We sent the message that no action against the Constitution would be allowed,” he said.
He then asked Sharif how many programs they aired on missing persons or Baloch students, adding that this isn’t the first time political statements have been used to weaken institutions. Arshad Sharif said that the channel wanted to cover the issue of missing persons, but they received threats from ‘unknown persons’ for doing so.
