ISLAMABAD: Former Law Minister Babar Awan cited two high profile suo motu cases as a precedent to decide his contempt of court case: the manhandling of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in 2007 and the case of his son Dr Arsalan Iftikhar.
Awan, arguing in his contempt of court case before a two-member bench of the Supreme Court, said that he was being discriminated against, adding that the court had forgiven serious contemnors involved in the manhandling of the chief justice when they tendered an unconditional apology.
Awan also asked the judges to refer his case to a proper forum for decision as they had done in the Arsalan Iftikhar case.
He said that Arslan’s case was decided very smartly and asked why such a procedure was not being applied to other pending cases.
Awan told the bench that the prosecution could not provide any incriminating evidence against him in the case.
“If the result of the proceedings is acquittal, who will then be responsible for the damage done to me during the lengthy trial?” enquired Awan.
He said that he was being held in the contempt case because he was a senior lawyer of the apex court. Awan said that the judgement in Arsalan's case was commendable and he too appreciated it but asked why Article 10A of the Constitution, that was introduced when he was law minister, was not being applied in his case so that he could also get the benefit of due process.
He said that the same practice was repeated in PML-N MNA Anjum Aqeel’s case and the Supreme Court referred his case to the proper forum.
“The Supreme Court should have referred his case to the Pakistan Bar Council even before his objection in this regard,” Awan said.
Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan told Awan that if the court reaches the conclusion that it was professional misconduct on his part, then his case could be referred to the proper forum for disciplinary action.
Awan, however, asked the Supreme Court if it was the appropriate time for considering his unconditional apology as the trial was in its final stages and after that the court would announce its judgement.
He also cited a case in which an alleged contemnor withdrew his unconditional apology when the court proceeded further once he had tendered the apology.
But Awan said that he did not follow this precedent out of respect for the court.
The court told Awan that his intra-court appeal was turned down when he asked for a larger bench to consider his apology and he should not press the same issue again and again.
“Presently, there is no contempt of court law in the country,” he said, adding that he also referred the statement of prosecutor in the case Attorney General of Pakistan Irfan Qadir in this regard.
During the proceedings, Awan also quoted Hadiths and cited verses from the Quran before the bench. After concluding his arguments, Awan pleaded to the court that his case should not be heard on Friday because many people “will be spared tonight Shab-e-Barat for worship”.
Saying he had faith in Allah, Awan said it did not matter if the court ceased his license. He said that he will not care if his senate seat will also be taken back from him. The court adjourned his case till tomorrow (Friday).
COMMENTS (19)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1713525343-0/WhatsApp-Image-2024-04-19-at-4-09-16-PM-(1)1713525343-0-270x192.webp)
1713525453-0/Henry-Cavill-in-James-Bond-(AI)1713525453-0-270x192.webp)
@ usman, sir I feel sorry for your anger and abusive language ,,, your hatred of politicians is unhealthy Not all politicians are bad Not all corrupt ZARDARI is maligned for corruption he is supposed to have done 20 years ago Why can't some one go to the court or come on tv to claim that he paid money to him Mr Awan has tried to point out to the courts that their behaviour is not correct and if he says something then he has to be taken seriously as he knows the law as good as th PCO judges
@Uza Syed:
Sir the twp cases are very different....................like an apple and an orange. You cannot put these at par. Babar maligned the Supreme Court directly. Arslan was accused by Riaz fopr taking money to influence decisions of the court.
@Usman: To believe one needs an ounce of something in his temple which you surely lack. Why only to blame politicians what about those who ruined our whole system of governments in collaboration with the same system and ruled the country for decades and politicians were only allowed to move forward in installments, ponder upon this .......
Can hardly believe that some people here have the nerve to speak against the SC that is the only institution stopping these politicians from selling your mothers at to the lowest bidder (NAB, PAC are bystanders if not facilitators of these politicians). With attitutdes like these, we deserve the poverty, loadshedding, humilitation and inflation. Enjoy.
@Logic Europe: I'de like to know what you guys are smoking, I want it too :)
@Shahid Ashraf: My friend it is a case of a decaying and fracturing society where all of us, starting with our erstwhile leaders and should be neroes, refuse to abide by law
It is time to ponder upon why has the comtempt of court in Pakistan become so frequent lately. Isn't it a sign of people's mistrust on the Apex court?
I think we are heading towards JUDGES RULE a new experiment in terror. They are playing with the constitution the way they are either directed or incompetent.
a richman may not be punished but A JUDGE WHO IS UNFAIR AND ONE SIDE IS BIGGER DANGER TO THE COUNTRY THAN A FEW PEOPLE WHO GET AWAY WITH CRIME ONLY BECAUSE SOME CORRUPT JUDGE IS TAKING BRIBES SOMEWHERE
Babar Awan will never learn.
Too late for Imran khan ,,,, the government is already being run by the judiciary
DR AWAN PLEASE GO BACK IN PPP Pakistan needs you You are the most learned and eloquent parliamentarian , use your abilities to save your country
@mirza Arsalan will wear a crown of disrepute forever The frequency of contemp is so high that it is disgraceful for this supreme court to continue in office
@Imran Haider: But sir, poor homeless Arsalan is the crown prince and nobody can be equal to him! Regards, Mirza
The PCO SC is hearing more contempt cases than any other country's SC in an entire lifetime. These petty matters are always decided in lower courts while SC is only an appeals court. Looks like they are not going to take any imp case which can change the plight of the ordinary people.
He is just the right guy to bring the message home very elequently to those who must listen to him and understand. I like Babar Awan's stand and his plea ------ wonderful citation and good lesson for us all to observe the blatant contradiction here. Arsala Iftikhar Chaudhry s/o the sitting Chief Justice Chaudhry Iftikhar can commit any crime and has the most lenient and most considerate Supreme Court ---- why----- don't we know the answer. This is a very biased and discriminaory court and trust of the ordinary citizen is diminishing fast. Something must be done to reverse this trend before it's, too, late and our faith in 'Due Process' 'Indiscriminate dispensation of justice to all' is hurt, actually our faith in the judiciary is totally eroded. Writing is on the wall for those who are smart to read it, refusing to accept the message does NOT make the facts go away.
Supreme Court should treat all Pakistanis with the same compassion and understanding they reflected toward Arsalan Iftikhar.
Gosh, this case is still lingering on. Why has this not been settled in one or two days? Why is SC spending so much public money on such egoist cases? Where is justice for ordinary people?