Contempt of Court law: SC orders federation to submit record of argument

A five-member bench ordered the federation to submit the record of the parliamentary argument.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court, while hearing petitions against the contempt law, ordered the federation to submit records of the contempt of court argument that took place in the parliament, Express News reported on Wednesday.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justices Shakirullah Jan, Tasadduq Jilani, Jawwad S Khawaja and Khilji Arif was conducting the third hearing of the case based on petitions against the law.

Earlier, the federation's counsel had sought time from the Supreme Court of Pakistan as it began hearing 27 petitions challenging the Contempt of Court Act, saying that the case was of high importance.

The controversial legislation – which has been termed a ‘black law’ by the opposition – is aimed at shielding the new premier from contempt proceedings similar to those that led to Yousaf Raza Gilani’s ouster from the country’s top office.

The federal cabinet approved the bill on July 4 after which President Asif Ali Zardari, who has 30 days to sign any bill after approval by both houses of parliament, did not waste much time and put his signature on the draft after overnight passage by the Senate on July 12.