Contempt Plea: SHC issues notices to Senate chairman, National Assembly speaker

Petitioner claims that the oath, pledged by candidates contesting national assembly or senate seats, is un-islamic.

KARACHI:

The Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker have been summoned by the Sindh High Court (SHC) for a hearing on contempt of court proceedings for allegedly defying the court’s order to make the oath of election candidates Islamic.

The notices were issued after petitioner Haji Gul Ahmed informed the court that the heads of both houses of Parliament had defied an earlier SHC order seeking a decision on making the oath Islamic. He asked the court to initiate contempt proceedings due to inaction of the chairman and speaker.

Ahmed had earlier gone to court questioning the language of the oath pledged and signed by the candidates contesting the election in their nomination papers. He claimed that the oath, pledged by candidates contesting national assembly or senate seats, was un-Islamic and unlawful as it was not taken in the name of Allah.

After preliminary hearing, the division bench headed by Justice Maqbool Baqir issued notices to the Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker to file their reply by the next date of hearing.

On Tuesday, the petitioner told the judges that his application, along with the court order, was duly received by the Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker on January 24, 2014.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2013.