Contempt of Court bill challenged in Supreme Court

Petitioner pleads declaration of the bill void, federation made party to petition.

ISLAMABAD: The one-day-old contempt of court bill passed in the National Assembly on Monday has been challenged in the Supreme Court for being contradictory to the constitution, Express News reported on Tuesday.

An advocate of the Supreme Court, Muhammad Siddique Khan Baloch, filed this petition in the court which pleads that this bill should be declared void. The federation has been made party to this petition as well.

The bill, effectively providing immunity to high-office holders to disobey court orders and a free hand for the public to criticise the judiciary, was bulldozed through the National Assembly on Monday night by the government.

The 13-clause bill was passed in a marathon session of the National Assembly amid protest by the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) which called it a “black day for democracy.”

The opposition raised objections against the government’s decision to not send the bill to the relevant standing committee for deliberations and they kept on demanding time as per rules.