Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan declines to represent Altaf Hussain in Supreme Court

Renowned lawyer and Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Senator Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan has declined to represent Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain in the contempt of court notice against him.

Speaking to media representatives in Islamabad, the legal expert said he could not take the case due to the fact that Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was on the bench hearing the notice. He said an MQM leader had asked him to become Hussain’s counsel.

Aitzaz Ahsan said he represented former Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani in the Supreme Court but did not charge any fee.

He further said the chief justice should not cancel his trip to Karachi due to security issues, adding that it may give the MQM chief the justification to not to come to Pakistan if Chief Justice Iftikhar did not make the visit.

He said the MQM chief could say that if the chief justice did not have enough security, how Hussain could come to Pakistan from the United Kingdom.

Earlier, he said that that he had advised Altaf Hussain to appear in court.  Whether the court’s order was right or wrong is another debate altogether, he added.

He was quoted as saying, “Prime facie, we are of the opinion that the language used is not only contemptuous but that he (Altaf) advances threat which is tantamount to interference with and obstruction of the process of the court by advancing threats to the judges of the Supreme Court and it also tended to bring the Judges into hatred, ridicule and contempt.”

On Dec 14, the Supreme Court had asked the MQM chief to appear before it in person and explain why he should not be charged for contempt over “his contemptuous assertions against the judiciary”.

In a telephonic address from London to a gathering in Karachi on Dec 2, Hussain had criticised the judiciary and said that judges of the apex court should apologise for their remarks on delimitation of Karachi’s constituencies or face the consequences.

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Posted by Web Desk on Dec 19 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Politics. 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.