Contempt of court: Business executive ‘detained’, fined for impersonation

He was fined Rs100,000, in case of non-payment, he would undergo further imprisonment for three days.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday convicted a top official of a beverage firm of contempt of court and sentenced him to imprisonment till the rising of the court along. He was also fined Rs100,000.

Earlier, the court had dismissed an unconditional apology made by Punjab Beverage Company Finance Director Fayyaz Hussain and directed the interior ministry to place his name on exit control.

On Wednesday, the court ruled that his name be removed from the ECL after he served the sentence and paid the fine.

Earlier, the court had issued a contempt of court notice for impersonating the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) tax chief during the hearing of a petition moved by some beverage companies against imposition of capacity tax. In his written reply, Hussain asked the court to recall the order passed against him on July 30.

The court observed that his actions amounted to diverting the course of justice.

The court dismissed his apology and convicted him under section 5(1) of the Contempt of Court Ordinance. The court ruled that in case of non-payment of the fine, Hussain would undergo further imprisonment for three days.

The applicant had appeared in the court at the last hearing and had impersonated Dr Ashfaq Ahmed Tonio, the FBR tax chief, in the presence of his counsel Ilyas Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2013.