Supreme Court issues contempt of court notice to Prime Minister Gilani

In quite an expected move, the Supreme Court issued contempt of court notice to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the NRO implementation cases, summoning him personally on January 19, 2012.

A larger bench of the Supreme Court, with Justice Nasirul Mulk in the chair, resumed hearing of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) Implementation case.

“In these circumstances, we are left with no option, as a first step, to issue a show cause notice,” the notice issued by the seven-member bench stated. The prime minister should appear personally in court on January 19.”

The buildup reached an exciting pitch on January 10 when a five-member bench chaired by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa gave six options against the government for non-compliance in the NRO implementation case, including disqualification for Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari.

Earlier, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, giving remarks during the hearing, observed that the court’s rulings were not being taken seriously.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa assailed the attorney-general over presenting the case without getting a response from the government. “You should not have arrived today without instructions from the respondents when it was clearly directed in the last hearing,” he said.

Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq stated that he had dispatched the court’s rulings but had not received any reply thus far. In reply to his remarks, the head of the bench, Justice Nasirul Mulk stated that he had asked him (AG) to bring the answer, not only dispatched the rulings.

Federal Law Minister Maula Bux Chandio said that the government would consult lawyers with respect to the court’s notice. He clarified that whatever would be done would be in accordance with the rules and procedures.

He observed, “This is not a small, usual thing,” Chandio told reporters outside the Supreme Court. This is a Supreme Court order on which we will consult our committee of experts. We will take the necessary steps in light of the constitution and the law”.

The seven-member bench of the Supreme Court comprised Justice Mulk, Justice Khosa, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Muhammad Ather Saeed.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jan 16 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.