Supreme Court declares Contempt of Court Act 2012 null and void

Striking down the recently passed Contempt of Court Act 2012 as null and void, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday said the new law was in conflict with Article 63(1) (g) of the Constitution.

Reading out the order, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry declared the law unconstitutional and illegal. “The government did not have the authority to formulate the rules for contempt of court, adding that, the law was an attempt to curtail the independence of the judiciary”, it added.

A five-member bench of the apex court with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the chair remarked that the immunity provided to the public office holders by the new law is against the Constitution.

Chief Justice Chaudhry said that the Section 6 and Section 8 of the new law are also unconstitutional and are against the freedom of judiciary.

“The Section 11, which says that a hearing will be suspended when an appeal is filed, is also against the freedom of the judiciary. The new law is contradictory to the Article 4 and 9 of the Constitution”, he added.

The ruling said that no government official could be given any immunity, asserting that the 2003 contempt of court ordinance will now come into effect.

Earlier on Friday, Attorney General Irfan Qadir completed his arguments and petitioners were ordered by the chief justice to give rejoinders as written statements due to lack of time. He said that the words of the constitution should be given new meaning in accordance with the law.

Chief Justice inquired, “You are the attorney general of Pakistan, and how can you make such a statement?” Justice Jilani said, “You should know the consequences of giving such a statement”.

Earlier, the chief justice objected to Article 2 (a) of the contempt law, saying that the use of the term “judge” there left no difference between the Supreme Court judges and revenue officers.

He remarked, “All judicial officers have been treated as one in objection to Article 2 (a) of the Contempt of Court Act 2012 which states:

  (a)    “Judge” includes all officers acting in a judicial capacity in the administration of justice;

During Thursday’s proceedings, the attorney general had objected to the bench, terming them biased, but when the chief justice had challenged him to name the judges, he backed down.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Aug 3 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.