Contempt of court: Malik given time to clear position in Steel Mills case

Apex court asks Malik why he had formed a new joint investigation team for PSM corruption cases.

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik on Tuesday sought time from the Supreme Court to submit his written reply in a contempt of court case pending against him for replacing an investigating officer in the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) corruption case without the court’s prior approval.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry accepted Malik’s plea and adjourned the case till July 23. During the proceedings, the court questioned why Malik had formed a new joint investigation team for the PSM corruption cases when the apex court had already ordered a probe into the scandal.

Malik informed the court that the team was dissolved on the court’s orders, adding that Justice Javed Iqbal had exempted him from attending the hearing. However, the chief justice said that no such order was mentioned in the case file.

Special courts appointments

Hearing a case regarding the appointments of judges in special courts, the bench ordered the government to appoint judges within three days and produce a report in this regard before the court on July 2 after the implementation of the judicial order.

The apex court noted that countless number of accused people were being set free on bail owing to the shortage of judges, adding that several anti-corruption and banking courts have been functioning without judges for over a year now.

The court directed the federal government to make appointments to vacant positions and submit a report in this regard within three days or 72 hours.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2012.