Speaking out of turn: SC issues restraining order against attorney general
A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court passed a restraining order against Attorney General Irfan Qadir on Thursday for interrupting court proceedings.
The bench was hearing a case related to media accountability. When senior journalist Absar Alam was arguing his case, Qadir stood up and launched a debate over a figure from the information ministry’s budgetary allocation, arguing that it was not Rs400 million, but Rs40 million instead.
Justice Jawwad S Khawaja asked him to wait his turn but Qadir stubbornly refused to sit down until the court accepted his argument. The court then not only rejected his statement, but also passed a written order against him, recording his conduct in court.
They warned Qadir against disrupting proceedings again, adding that cases could not be heard properly with his interruptions.
Earlier in the day, Qadir was snubbed during the hearing of the Balochistan law and order case by the president of the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, Zahoor Ahmad Shahwani, for confronting the judges over their observations regarding the government’s response to court orders on the missing persons issue.
Shahwani asked Qadir why he was always in a combative mood when he appeared in the courtroom.
“If you have any grievance, you should fight on the relevant platform,” he said, adding that it was not a suitable conduct for an attorney general to speak in a rude manner in court.
He warned Qadir not to misbehave or act like his predecessor, Maulvi Anwarul Haq.
The three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry did not say anything in response to Shahwani.
Qadir then asked the bench why they didn’t defend him when Shahwani rebuffed him. In response, the chief justice simply asked why they should.
Qadir has previously been served a notice by the court for not assisting it properly in a case.
When the court pointed this out, he launched into another argument.
The court also expressed its concern over the attorney general’s conduct in several other cases.
Qadir has also been ousted by a Supreme Court ruling from the Lahore High Court, where he was functioning as a judge. The court said his appointment was against the law.
He was also ousted as prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau on constitutional and legal grounds.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2012.
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