No contempt of court law exists in Pakistan: AG Irfan Qadir

In quite a shocking revelation, Attorney General of Pakistan Irfan Qadir while representing his arguments against Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in the contempt of court case said that there was no such law existed in the country.

A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, resumed the contempt of court proceedings against Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in the infamous National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Qadir further said that a contempt of court ordinance was promulgated in the country in July 2003 but that it had expired in December 2003.

Attorney General Irfan Qadir said that a section of the media was reporting against him, alleging that he had supported the premier’s lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan and was attempting to rescue the prime minister.

Giving the reference of Section 8 (2), Qadir said that the court can release verdicts to stop such reporting in the media.

The Attorney General also informed the bench that some reports had mentioned Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry saying that “robbers have been made ministers”, and said that such a statement cannot be attributed to the chief justice.

He asserted that such media reports were creating influence in the case and were attempting to manipulate the court proceedings.

In reply to this, Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani questioned the Attorney General if he thought that the court was being influenced?

Qadir said that even if the court wasn’t getting influenced, he found the statements offensive, praying the court to take action against them. Since he has been made a prosecutor in the case, he said he will present his arguments independently and without getting pressure from any party.

Justice Nasirul-Mulk asked him to provide the copies of the United Nations (UN) guidelines that he was reading from.  Upon which, the Attorney General said that he did not get time, otherwise he would have provided copies to the court.

Earlier during Friday’s hearing, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, Prime Minister Gilani’s counsel in the case since January 19, concluded his arguments, saying that a letter to the Swiss authorities should not and must not be sent.

Ahsan tried to convince the bench that the NRO judgment would be and must be implemented but only after Asif Ali Zardari relinquished the office of president in September 2013.

After declaring the controversial NRO illegal and then dismissing a review petition, the court has been asking the government for the past two years to write the letter to the Swiss authorities for reopening $60 million graft cases also involving the president.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=20063

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Apr 24 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.