The Aporia · ATC issues contempt notice to Adiala superintendent over failure to facilitate Imaan, Hadi’s powers of attorney

An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad issued a contempt notice to Adiala jail's superintendent for failing to facilitate Imaan Zainab Hazir-Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha in signing powers of attorney needed for their bail proceedings. The judge, Tahir Abbas Sipra, expressed dissatisfaction with the jail’s failure to obtain the documents and considered sentencing the superintendent to six months in prison. The court also noted ongoing issues with internet connectivity at Adiala jail hindering video link appearances for Imaan and Hadi.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-27, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

Story summary

On Saturday, ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra issued a contempt notice to the superintendent of Adiala jail for failing to facilitate the signing and transmission of vakalatnamas (powers of attorney) required for human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha to file bail petitions. The two accused were unable to be produced through video link despite previous directions, leading Judge Sipra to express displeasure over the jail authorities' failure to obtain their signatures on the documents. However, on Tuesday, another ATC dropped the contempt proceedings after learning that the vakalatnamas had been signed by Imaan and Hadi, thus resolving the issue. The judge also directed the Adiala jail superintendent to formulate rules governing the signing of powers of attorney by prisoners to prevent such obstacles in future access to justice.

Written for “Contempt Proceedings Dropped” on 2026-10-14, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

📰 Contempt Proceedings Dropped

Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

This article reads unscored and hedges 17% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Islamabad ATC drops contempt proceedings against Adiala authorities after powers of attorney for Imaan, Hadi signed same event · 95%

Dawn · 0.93 cosine similarity

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 22 📰 publisher trust 71

“Both articles discuss the same contempt proceedings initiated against Adiala jail superintendent for failing to facilitate the signing of powers of attorney and later dropping those proceedings after the documents were signed.”

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Dawn · 1640 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)

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🔮 The defence sought an adjournment, informing the court that the Oct 10 order was also being challenged before the Islamabad High Court. “If your petition is accepted by the high court, the proceedings in this court will come to an end,” the judge remarked.

2026-10-12 · assertive framing · Islamabad ATC tells authorities to allow Imaan, Hadi to meet their legal team in jail

🔮 If the framing of charges is set aside, the entire proceedings will come to an end,” Judge Sipra remarked, observing that the challenge before the high court did not automatically prevent the trial court from proceeding.

2026-10-10 · assertive framing · Islamabad ATC disposes of plea to drop terrorism charges against Imaan, Hadi in security breach case

2026-10-10 · assertive framing · Islamabad ATC seeks report on failure to produce Imaan, Hadi in security breach case

🔮 He argued that charges could not be framed before completion of all legal formalities.

2026-10-07 · assertive framing · Islamabad ATC indicts Imaan, Hadi in security breach case despite objection over incomplete legal formalities

🔮 An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) adjourned the indictment proceedings against lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her spouse, Hadi Ali Chattha, until Wednesday (today) after they could not be produced due to a power outage.

2026-10-07 · mixed framing · ATC delays Imaan, Hadi’s indictment in security breach case

🔮 DSP Yousuf then said the IO’s mobile phone was switched off and that it could take 10 to 15 days to establish contact with him.

2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Imaan and Hadi's arrest: ATC judge irked over IO's absence, failure to present case record

🔮 DSP Yousuf then said the IO’s mobile phone was switched off and that it could take 10 to 15 days to establish contact with him.

2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Imaan and Hadi's arrest: ATC judge irked over IO's absence, police failure to present case record

🔮 Earlier on Sept 15, the court had questioned the petition maintainability, noting that the petitioners are Afghan nationals and, therefore, may not be able to invoke the writ jurisdiction of the court.

2026-10-01 · assertive framing · IHC asks govt to settle Afghan students’ stay issue in 30 days

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🔮 No representative of Adiala jail appeared before the court, while the two accused could also not be produced through video link despite a previous direction.

2026-09-26 · assertive framing · ATC issues contempt notice to Adiala superintendent over failure to facilitate Imaan, Hadi’s powers of attorney

Also by Malik Asad

Islamabad ATC tells authorities to allow Imaan, Hadi to meet their legal team in jail

2026-10-12 · Dawn

Islamabad ATC disposes of plea to drop terrorism charges against Imaan, Hadi in security breach case

2026-10-10 · Dawn

Islamabad ATC seeks report on failure to produce Imaan, Hadi in security breach case

2026-10-10 · Dawn

Islamabad ATC indicts Imaan, Hadi in security breach case despite objection over incomplete legal formalities

2026-10-07 · Dawn

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

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The judge expressed displeasure over the failure of the jail authorities to obtain Imaan and Hadi’s signatures on the powers of attorney, which are required to authorise lawyers to represent them in the bail proceedings.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-27

🔮 No representative of Adiala jail appeared before the court, while the two accused could also not be produced through video link despite a previous direction.

2026-09-27 · Dawn

ATC issues contempt notice to Adiala superintendent over failure to facilitate Imaan, Hadi’s powers of attorney · assertive framing

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday issued a contempt of court notice to the Adiala jail superintendent for allegedly failing to facilitate the signing and transmission of powers of attorney (vakalatnamas) required to file bail petitions for Imaan Zainab Hazir-Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha. uncertain

court → issue → Mazari

On Tuesday, the court returned bail petitions filed by human rights lawyers Imaan and Hadi in the Kohsar police station protest case over the absence of signed powers of attorney. asserted

court → return → attorney

During the proceedings, ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra directed the jail superintendent to explain why he should not be sentenced to six months in prison for allegedly disobeying the court’s orders. uncertain

he → direct → orders

No representative of Adiala jail appeared before the court, while the two accused could also not be produced through video link despite a previous direction. uncertain

two → appear → direction

Dr Shireen Mazari, Imaan’s mother, and a large number of lawyers appeared before the court during the proceedings. asserted

Mazari → appear → proceedings

which → express → proceedings

Judge Sipra remarked that the jail superintendent should not push the court — or himself — into a corner. asserted

superintendent → remark → corner

He asked whether the deputy superintendent had collected the powers of attorneys from the sessions court on the relevant day. asserted

superintendent → ask → day

Advocate Riasat Ali Azad told the court that he was not certain whether the documents had been collected from the court. asserted

documents → tell → court

He said the lawyers had submitted the powers of attorneys there for onward transmission to Adiala jail in compliance with the court’s order. asserted

lawyers → say → order

The serial numbers of the powers of attorneys submitted to the sessions court were subsequently presented before the bench. asserted

numbers → submit → bench

The court staff informed Judge Sipra that Imaan and Hadi were not being produced through video link because the jail authorities had cited internet connectivity problems. asserted

authorities → inform → problems

The judge expressed dissatisfaction with the explanation, observing that the Adiala jail authorities had also repeatedly cited internet connectivity issues in an earlier case. asserted

authorities → express → case

He recalled that he had previously directed experts from PTCL and NTC to visit Adiala jail to resolve the connectivity problem, specifically instructing that experts be sent from Haripur. asserted

experts → recall → Haripur

Judge Sipra observed that obtaining and signing the vakalatnama was a fundamental right of an accused and could not be denied on account of administrative hurdles. uncertain

obtaining → observe → hurdles

The court subsequently issued a show-cause notice for contempt of court to the Adiala jail superintendent and sought an explanation as to why he should not be sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. asserted

he → issue → imprisonment

The ATC adjourned further proceedings until Tuesday. asserted

ATC → adjourn → Tuesday

On January 24, an Islamabad sessions court sentenced Imaan and Hadi to a total of 17 years in jail on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca). asserted

court → sentence → Act

However, on September 17, the Supreme Court suspended the couple’s sentences in the controversial social media posts case. asserted

Court → suspend → case

The SC granted the couple bail against surety bonds of Rs200,000 and ordered their release pending the IHC’s final verdict. asserted

SC → grant → verdict

Soon after their release, Islamabad police personnel, led by the SSP Operations, reached Adiala jail and arrested the two again in connection with the Kohsar police station protest case. asserted

personnel → lead → case

The police subsequently produced them before the ATC late at night. asserted

police → produce → night

However, the ATC rejected the police’s request for a 30-day physical remand of the couple and sent them to jail on judicial remand. asserted

ATC → reject → remand

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ATC issues contempt notice to Adiala superintendent over failure to facilitate Imaan, Hadi’s powers of attorney

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