Parliamentary Terrorism: Supreme Court Takes up Contempt(uous) "Law" Today

• Subscribe to PCF Networked Blog Daily Updates 
• Subscribe to our Twitter / Google / Yahoo Daily Updates

Supreme Court of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court is set to take up the case relating to the Contempt of Court Act 2012 today (Monday).Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Sunday consulted the law minister and other legal brains in response to the notices issued by the Supreme Court. The petitions will be heard by the bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani, Justice Jawwad S Khwaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain. The bench will hear 26 petitions against the act. The Supreme Court during a preliminary hearing of one of the petitions, filed by Baz Muhammad Kakar, in Quetta on July 13 held that “this petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution calls in question the constitutionality of the Contempt of Court Act, 2012. Therefore, the respondents and the AG may file concise statements if advised and desired”.

The petitioners include Muhammad Siddique Khan Baloch, Syed Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi, the Lawyer Writers Forum, Mahmudul Hassan, Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf Gujjar, Chaudhry Khalid Farooq, Abdul Naveed Khan, Ghulam Mustafa, Shahid Naseem Gondal, Muhammad Azhar Siddique, the Watan Party, the Judicial Activism Panel, the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Maulvi Iqbal Haider, Chaudhry Amjad Hassan Ali, the Communist Party of Pakistan, GM Chaudhry, the Save Judiciary Movement, the Sindh Bar Council, Solicitor Muhammad Dawood, Zafarullah Khan, Muhammad Jamil Rana, Shahid Orakzai, Arshad Mehmood Bagoo and the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC).Mr Kakar contended that Section 3(i) of the new act curtailed the power and jurisdiction of the court under Article 204(2) of the Constitution to punish ‘any person’ who abused, interfered with or obstructed the process of the court in any way or disobeyed any order of the court. It also violated Article 25 which guaranteed equal protection of the laws, he said.

The petitioner contended that the law also violated the independence of the judiciary, guaranteed by Articles 2-A, 175 and 190, and its provisions might affect the fundamental rights. A petition filed on behalf of the Save Judiciary Movement by Advocate Hashmat Habib on Friday pleaded that the law be struck down because it went against the Quran and Sunnah and the Contempt of Court Ordinance of 2003 be restored, which the new law repealed. He argued that the intention of the legislature and the president behind the enactment of the law appeared to be mala fide and in conflict with the Constitution.Likewise on Wednesday, a special bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Amir Hani Muslim, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed will resume hearing of the NRO order implementation case.

The prime minister is required to submit a report on implementing the order against the National Reconciliation Ordinance, failing which he will face ‘any appropriate action under the Constitution’ to be initiated by the court.The attorney general had informed the court on July 12 that the cabinet would take a decision in accordance with provisions of the Constitution when the law ministry gave its opinion on the issue regarding writing the letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen money-laundering cases against President Zardari.

Pakistan Cyber Force

Follow PCF on Facebook

Follow PCF on Twitter