Speaker's ruling: Altercation after lawyers, AG exchange harsh words

Argument started when AG said all judges ran away after announcing verdict in PM contempt case.

ISLAMABAD: An altercation started in the courtroom during the hearing of petitions filed against the speaker’s ruling in the contempt case against Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday, Express News reported. The altercation began after the lawyers and Attorney General Irfan Qadir exchanged harsh words.

The argument started when the attorney general claimed that all the judges, who had convicted Gilani, had “run away” from the court’s premises just as the verdict was announced. He added that Gilani wanted to file a verbal appeal but could not do so, and said that while the media was still there, there was no judge to be seen.

Heading a three-member bench, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry told Qadir not to undermine the reputation of the court by giving such statements.

Justice Jawad S Khwaja remarked that the attorney general should “not create noise” as he was a senior law officer.

Lawyers started chanting slogans against the attorney general.

The police was called into the courtroom in order to control the situation. Police officials tried to appease the infuriated lawyers and told them to take their seats.

The petitions, including those filed by Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), had challenged the speaker’s ruling and demanded prime minister’s disqualification after he was convicted of contempt by the apex court.

Correction: An earlier version of the story mistakenly quoted the attorney general as saying that the lawyers had run away from the court, instead of judges. The error is regretted.