Attorney General Irfan Qadir objects four judges in contempt of court case

Objecting four judges in the bench hearing petitions against the Contempt of Court Act 2012, Attorney General Irfan Qadir on Thursday said these judges were prejudiced.

A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing of 27 identical petitions filed against recently passed Contempt of Court Act.

Justice Jawwad S Khawaja asked the attorney general why he hadn’t objected to the constitution of the bench earlier as it had been hearing the petitions for the past one week. Irfan Qadir replied that he had tried speaking up but was asked to remain quiet by the court.

The bench asked the attorney general to name the judges as well as his reasons for calling them prejudiced in writing.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that this was not the first time the attorney general have raised objections over the constitution of a bench.

He noted, “Prior to this also, you have raised objections to the constitution of benches in different cases. If the attorney general has brought the matter up earlier, 10 days of hearings would not have gone to waste”.

The chief justice further said that Irfan Qadir was making an accusation that he could not prove. He also asked the attorney general not try to defame the judges and judicial institutions.

He stated the attorney general was not simply a counsel for the federal government but a legal expert who provides assistance to the court was among his duties.

The attorney general had appeared before the bench on a court notice which did not authorize him to act as someone’s counsel or as a party in the case, he added.

Upon which, Irfan Qadir said that the bench was appearing to be prejudiced in the case. He reiterated that the newly passed law didn’t infringe upon the independence of the judiciary.

Moreover, he said that the court should also summon those who would be affected in case the new law was struck down. On one occasion, Justice Khawaja told the attorney general to respect the sanctity of his office.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Aug 2 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.