Letter to Swiss authorities would end contempt proceedings; says Chief Justice

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Thursday said the contempt issue would be disposed off if the government writes a letter to the Swiss authorities. The appeal itself was in contempt of the court, he observed.

The Supreme Court is hearing an intra-court appeal filed by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, who had been summoned by the apex court on February 13 for framing of charges against him in a contempt of court case.

The Chief Justice during the hearing clarified that they never bowed before anyone, including those who considered themselves powerful. He believed that the chief executive had embarrassed himself. An attempt has been made to influence the court by raising certain points in the appeal, he added.

The CJ questioned Ahsan on how he could include paragraphs in his appeal which say that the contempt case cannot be initiated against a prime minister who helped in restoring the judiciary.

Whereupon, Ahsan said that even if a contempt case was initiated against him, keeping in view his struggles for the restoration of the judges, he would have taken the same stance.

Aitzaz observed, “If I were summoned on contempt charges, would I not ask you if I had wasted two years, Aitzaz asked. My client should get the benefit of the doubt, Aitzaz tells the bench.”

The counsel, upon a remark by a judge replied that the court may remove the paragraph raising various questions. On which three objectionable points from the intra-court appeal were removed on the court’s insistence.

The counsel contended that the court used harsh language in its order that gave six options. He also read out some parts of President Zardari’s interview to a private TV channel which were included in the SC’s ruling.

Upon which Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said these were the facts and no one had contracted it thus far.

The newly formed eight-member bench, headed by the chief justice, was formed on Wednesday after Ahsan filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against its order of filing charges against the premier. None of the seven judges, who had summoned the prime minister on February 13 for the framing of charges, are part of the bench hearing appeal against their order.

It is vital to mention here that Aitzaz Ahsan appeared before Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry nearly after five years.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=12154

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Feb 9 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.