September 16, 2026
By Hashir Ahsan
ISLAMABAD
In a joint press conference, office-bearers of the Islamabad Bar Council, Islamabad Bar Association, and Islamabad High Court Bar Association demanded an early hearing on the appeals against the conviction of Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha.
Islamabad Bar Council Vice Chairman Asif Irfan said that the judiciary is the institution meant to resolve matters of fundamental rights between the general public and the state, but the judiciary has failed to perform this task; it has always supported the powerful, and the judiciary has become helpless with decisions no longer in its hands.
He added that lawyers have always stepped forward for the supremacy of the constitution in this country, and we have never sought decisions from the court through mobs for any lawyer; Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha never asked us to get a decision from the court through mobs, and we know very well where the signals are coming from and who is giving directions.
Bar Council member Aleem Abbasi stated that the leadership of the Islamabad High Court Bar, Islamabad Bar Council, and Islamabad District Bar Association is present here.
He noted that Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha are members of our bar; their trial was conducted in haste in the court of Judge Afzal Majoka. They filed an appeal in the Islamabad High Court against the conviction of Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha, where delay tactics were used to hear the appeal, after which they approached the Supreme Court for hearing the appeal. The Supreme Court directed the High Court to fix the appeal for hearing within two weeks, but four months have passed and the Supreme Court’s decision is not being implemented.
He emphasized that regardless of the crime, an accused or convict has the right to a free and fair trial; Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha have been sentenced in a PECA case, and we are only asking that the rights granted under the Constitution be provided.
With the application scheduled for hearing again in the Supreme Court, our demand is that a decision be made on the application immediately, warning that if the Supreme Court’s decision is not implemented, anarchy will spread.
He further remarked that a mock trial of Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha has taken place, this system is being exposed, we can only speak and cannot stage a sit-in on Constitution Avenue, and when the constitutional amendment took place, we said it would affect the judiciary.
District Bar Association President Naeem Gujjar stated that eight months have passed since the sentencing of Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha, and for eight months the appeal has not been heard.
We only want the appeal to be heard under the Constitution and law; the Supreme Court had also directed that the hearing be held within two weeks. Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha are not above the law, but they should be given their constitutional right; the right to a fair trial is not being granted even in a minor offense.
The Constitution and law should not be turned into the law of the jungle, otherwise tomorrow the public will lose faith in the courts, and tomorrow the rule of political parties will come to an end. When in power, the law is trampled upon; Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should see what is happening in the country, as Prime Minister, you too have faced the courts in the past.
The hearing on the applications filed by Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha in the Supreme Court will take place tomorrow, September 17. Prior to this, the last hearing on the appeals for suspension of sentence for Imaan Mazari and Hadi Chatha was held in the Supreme Court on August 20.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan heard the case. During the hearing, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan inquired when the holidays at the Islamabad High Court were ending. The Additional Attorney General informed that the Islamabad High Court would officially resume work from September 6.
The Additional Attorney General maintained that the appeals for suspension of sentence were not maintainable. Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim inquired where it is written in the law that they are not maintainable. Advocate Faisal Siddiqui told the court that the Supreme Court had ordered a decision on the appeals for suspension of sentence within two weeks, but the Supreme Court’s order was not implemented.
The Additional Attorney General said that the Islamabad High Court has its own system according to which cases are fixed. Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan remarked that it is better if no opinion is sought from us on the system of the Islamabad High Court.
Faisal Siddiqui said that the case was suddenly fixed for September 8 in the Islamabad High Court, and whenever the Supreme Court is about to decide, the case gets fixed in the High Court. Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan remarked, “Faisal Siddiqui Sahib, let the system be fully exposed.” Faisal Siddiqui said that the cause list has not arrived yet, and express concern that the case might disappear from the system.
Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan remarked that the case can disappear from the system, not us; do not worry, we are present here and, God willing, will be here in the future as well. Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim remarked that the directive was only to decide on the suspension of sentence, and the court can also dismiss the application.
The court adjourned the further hearing of the case until September 17. Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan remarked that on the next hearing, either we will be giving a decision or the petitioners will be withdrawing the case.
The hearing on the appeals of Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha took place in the Islamabad High Court on September 8, but due to the non-availability of the special prosecution, no significant progress could be made, and the court adjourned the hearing of the case until September 23.