A five member bench of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of a contempt petition in the dual office case against President Asif Ali Zardari till November 7.
The petition sought contempt of court proceedings against President Zardari for not relinquishing his political office of PPP co-chairperson, in light of a judgment passed by the LHC on May 12, 2011.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, also comprised Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh, Justice Sheikh Najamul Hassan, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.
The bench allowed a written request for the adjournment submitted on behalf of Advocate Wasim Sajjad, counsel of the federation in the case. The counsel sought a short adjournment on account of his engagement in the annual election of the Supreme Court Bar Association in Islamabad held on Wednesday.
Petitioner Muneer Ahmad Khan’s counsel, AK Dogar, opposed the adjournment plea and said Sajjad was neither a candidate nor canvassing for any candidate in the election. Dogar added that he could have cast his vote from Lahore as well, and asked the bench to continue hearing the case in the absence of the federation’s counsel. CJ Bandial nonetheless adjourned the hearing till November 7.
Khan had filed the petition against President Zardari for not disassociating himself from the political office and indulging in political activities in violation of the LHC order. He said directions issued by the court had not been followed and President Zardari continued ‘misusing’ the Presidency. Khan also stated that the use of the Presidency for partisan political activities by President Zardari was illegal and tantamount to committing contempt of the court’s orders.
He also requested the court to issue a show cause notice to the president and punish him under the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003, read with Article 204 of the Constitution.
JI also jumps in the fray
Meanwhile, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) filed a constitutional petition in the LHC against President Zardari for continuing to hold his political office of co-chairperson of the PPP.
The JI requested the court to declare him disqualified on account of him retaining the political office at the time of filing his nomination papers for the last presidential elections.
The JI filed the petition through its deputy secretary, Dr Fareed Ahmad Paracha, and stated that the respondent (President Zardari) from day one has been persistently carrying on political activities as the head of the state as well as the head of a political party.
Paracha said the meetings of the core committee of the ruling PPP were regularly being held in the Presidency and expenses for them were met from the public exchequer. He said the president was continuously disobeying the LHC’s order, as well as the Constitution.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2012.
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