Supreme Court to hear Contempt of Court Law case on July 23

Admitting all petitions challenging the recently passed Contempt of Court Act 2012, the Supreme Court of Pakistan issued notice to Prime Minister and Attorney General along with ten others respondents.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday signed into law a bill adopted by the parliament which permitted the prime minister, federal ministers and chief ministers to criticize the court decisions.

Earlier, the apex court had directed Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to write letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

The ruling Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) had rushed the bill through the Nation Assembly and Senate despite strong opposition from within party and opposition, making efforts to protect the newly elected premier.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain heard the petition filed by Baz Muhammad Kakar which challenged the changes made to the Contempt of Court Act 2012.

The bench also rejected a plea for stay against the newly approved law. Advocate Athar Minallah and Hadi Shakeel represented the applicant in the case.

The applicant during his arguments said, “The bill was in conflict with basic clauses of the constitution. Article 2A guarantees freedom of the judiciary while according to Article 25, all citizens have equal rights”.

The counsel for Kakar while arguing in the court said that the purpose of contempt law was to seek justice and it could only be possible through an independent judiciary. The newly approved Act was in contradiction with the constitution and was legislated for the vested interests of few individuals, he added.

Athar Minallah stated, “The newly amended law was not only a hurdle in the way of dispensing justice but also against the independence of judiciary, praying for the law to be declared null and void”.

He also argued that the executive was bound to act under the Constitution under the Article 190.

In counter remarks, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that the courts would pass their rulings in the morning while panelists would criticize the court in TV talks shows for not getting verdicts implemented if the people were not made answerable for not implementing the court orders.

The court ordered that all the identical petitions should be put before the court for next hearing on July 23.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jul 14 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.