LHC hears contempt plea against PM today

Petitioner asserts Shehbaz used inappropriate language against judges

ISLAMABAD:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has scheduled a hearing for a contempt of court petition filed against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The petition will be heard by Justice Muhammad Waheed Khan today (Friday).

The petitioner, Ashba Kamran, has named the federal government, represented by the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, as the respondent.

Ashba asserts that Prime Minister Shehbaz used inappropriate language regarding judges and requests that contempt of court proceedings be initiated against him.

Addressing the PML-N General Council meeting on May 28, PM Shehbaz had said, "If Pakistan fails to make progress, then there would be no judges, no politicians, and no one else. Do you want this? I believe that most of these judges are Pakistanis and think about Pakistan’s development, but some black sheep are helping [PTI founder] Imran Khan."

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Shehbaz’s remarks drew the ire of some Supreme Court judges.

While interacting with Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan during the hearing of a case related to NAB law amendments on Thursday, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail observed that the prime minister had labelled judges as “black sheep”.

“If you like the decision then a judge is fine, but if you dislike the verdict then a judge becomes a black sheep,” he remarked.

Responding to the remarks, the AGP clarified that the PM did not label the “honourable judges” as black sheep. “This [black sheep remarks] was not aimed at incumbent judges,” he added.