Faizabad sit-in: IHC unhappy over non-submission of Raja Zafarul Haq report

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday took the federal authorities to task over their failure to submit a report of the committee formed to fix responsibility for introducing controversial amendment to the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat oath.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the high court warned the authorities of action if they failed to submit the report in the next hearing.

He said he can summon the prime minister to the court over the government’s failure to furnish the report to the court.

The secretary of defence and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) director general submitted their respective reports in the court today.

A federal law officer told the judge that the Raja Zafarul Haq-led committee’s report was incomplete, which was why it couldn’t be submitted in the court.

Irked by the law officer’s response, Justice Siddiqui clarified that he had ordered at the previous hearing that the report should be placed on record even if it was incomplete.

The hearing of the case was adjourned till February 20.

A three-member committee, comprising Raja Zafarul Haq, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan, had probed introduction of a controversial amendment to Khatm-i-Nabuwwat oath for electoral candidates and compiled a report over the matter.