Islamabad’s district commissioner was indicted for contempt of court by the Islamabad High Court on Thursday over the arrest of Shehryar Afridi.

DC Irfan Memon and SSP Operations Jameel Zafar submitted replies in court while advocate general Islamabad offered an unconditional apology.

However, Justice Babar Sattar rejected the apology and started reading out the indictment. Justice Sattar remarked that any explanation the DC had should now be offered during the trial.

The DC pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Justice Sattar remarked that the DC could face upto six months in jail if he was found guilt. The judge also remarked that the DC should stay in jail to see for himself how the people fared after being imprisoned on his orders.

Islamabad High Court had ordered the release of Shehryar Afridi, who was being held under the MPO. However, the DC had immediately reordered his arrest under the MPO citing he had received a ‘source report’.

The court had ruled that the rearrest amounted to ‘belittling’ court orders. Justice Sattar had also said that the arrest orders under MP were synchronised to keep people in jail even after court ordered their release.