Supreme Court seeks record of parliamentary proceedings over new contempt law

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday sought record of the parliamentary debate that took place regarding the passage of the new contempt of court law.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing of petitions filed against the recently passed contempt of court law.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry during the course of hearing said, “It was the foresight of the politicians that the issue was not brought up during the passage of the 18^th Amendment and in turn the contempt of court law was given protection”.

Moreover, he said that the constitution didn’t permit anyone to ridicule the court on the basis of immunity, added that violation of any rulings of the court was tantamount to committing contempt of court.

Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jilani in his remarks said, “The case was being heard not because it involved influential personalities but because it involved the system”. The judiciary respected the parliament but the issue was not about the parliament, he said adding that the well-being of whole system was on risk.

Another judge, Justice Khawaja, in his remarks said that the new contempt of court law was a matter of concern for the ordinary citizen.

The counsels for petitions continued their arguments against the recently approved law during Wednesday’s proceedings.

Abdul Rehman Siddiqui Advocate was of the opinion that the Parliament couldn’t make a law against the fundamental rights. Despite the face the role of the judiciary couldn’t be diminished in any case, the executive was given the authority over judiciary in the new law, he added.

In his view, it was a clear violation of the Constitution and was introduced to curtail the powers of the judiciary.

He noted, “The prime minister and officials of the ruling government may face contempt of court cases, hence the new law had been passed with ill intentions”.

The lawyer prayed to the court to declare the law as null and void, saying that legislation over the contempt law was privilege of the apex court.

Another lawyer, Advocate Abdul Shakoor Paracha, representing the federal government, said that he had come to the Supreme Court not to defend the contempt of court law but to assist the court.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that the new Contempt of Court Act 2012 seemed to be against the delivery of justice while the earlier law was intended to ensure the implementation of court orders.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jul 25 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.