Contempt of court: Babar Awan to be indicted today

The CJ said that the apology letter was a confession of crime by Awan.


Our Correspondent May 17, 2012

ISLAMABAD:


Former law minister Babar Awan will be indicted today in a contempt of court case by the Supreme Court.


A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard an intra-court appeal against the indictment verdict of the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Barrister Ali Zafar said his client, Awan, had tendered an unconditional apology, yet the bench intended to indict him.

The chief justice said that the apology letter was a confession of crime by Awan, while the court hasn’t cancelled his apology. The court also told Barrister Zafar that he can only request and cannot direct the court for consideration of apology. Chief Justice Chaudhry further questioned why Awan was afraid of being indicted by the court, saying that the issue of apology can be reviewed even after indictment.

Awan seemed convinced with the observation of the court and withdrew his intra-court appeal in this regard.

A two-member bench headed by Justice Ijaz Afzal and comprising Justice Athar Saeed is hearing  the contempt case against Awan, which will resume its hearing today (May 17). Awan’s appeal for the restoration of his licence is also pending and the chief justice said that a larger bench would be formed to hear the plea.

Awan requested for early fixation but the chief justice told him that the composition of a larger bench is not possible in the near future.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2012.

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