Contempt petition filed against Maryam, Azma

A contempt of court petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz and Provincial Information Minister Azma Bukhari over their public statements concerning the court's decision on the Punjab Property Ownership Act.

The petition, filed by citizen Munir Ahmad through advocate Azhar Siddique, contends that the respondents made critical and controversial remarks about a judicial order relating to the Punjab Property Ownership Act, which, according to the petitioner, amount to contempt of court.

According to the petition, statements issued after the suspension of the property law undermined the credibility of the judiciary and sought to politicise the LHC's order.

It further alleges that the chief minister's remarks portrayed the court's decision as being in favour of the land mafia, terming the assertion a serious and baseless allegation.

The petitioner maintained that assigning a political colour to a judicial order is unlawful and warned that remarks by senior government functionaries could adversely affect the judicial process.

The petition has requested the LHC to issue show-cause notices to Maryam Nawaz and Azma Bukhari and to initiate contempt of court proceedings against them.

It may be recalled here that following the LHC's order, the chief minister had issued public statements asserting that the suspension of the ordinance would "benefit land mafias and encroachers" and that the court's intervention was "not in accordance with the principles laid down by the superior judiciary".

She further stated that the decision would harm the poor, widows and oppressed segments of society and frustrate efforts to curb long-standing land disputes.

Azma also spoke to the media, indicating that "options" were under consideration in response to the court's order in remarks which the petitioner contends diminished the binding and authoritative nature of a subsisting judicial directive.