Contempt plea against lawmakers dismissed

LHC bench sees ‘no grounds’ for proceedings.

LAHORE: A bench, headed by Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, ruled on Monday that under the constitution, any resolution passed by assemblies could not be questioned in a court of law.

The court observed that resolutions passed by assemblies could not influence court proceedings since the resolutions were not binding on the courts.

The observations were made on Monday while a four-member full bench of the Lahore High Court dismissed a petition seeking contempt of court proceedings against speakers of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies.

The petitioner had contended that the speakers should be held in contempt for passing resolutions in favour of President Asif Ali Zardari for holding two offices when the matter was in court. He submitted that the assemblies had tried to “influence the courts”.

The bench has taken up contempt petition moved by Farhad Ali Shah, during the hearing of dual office case against the President Asif Ali Zardari.

The court then adjourned the hearing of the main case till Tuesday (today).

On Monday, AK Dogar, counsel for a petitioner, asked the court to do justice “otherwise anarchy will take over”. He cited the example of the American Supreme Court, which had not done justice in a black man’s case in 1861. “The ‘mistake’ led to a civil war in which 1.5 million people died,” Dogar argued.

The petitioners contend that the president, being head of the state, is constitutionally required to maintain impartiality. They contend that Asif Ali Zardari, being the co-chairperson of the ruling party, adopts, on occasion, the political stance of the party and serves party interests. The bench is hearing petitions of Pakistan Lawyers Forum (PLF), Ghulam Jillani and Advocate Asif Mehmood Khan, who seek the president’s disqualification for holding two offices.

Published in The Express Triune, February 1^st,  2011.