PCO judges: ‘Case should be referred to Supreme Judicial Council’

Counsel for one of the judges says SJC is the proper forum for hearing contempt of court cases.

ISLAMABAD: The counsel for one of the PCO judges on Monday asked the Supreme Court to refer the contempt of court cases against the judges to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) which he said was a “proper forum for hearing contempt of court cases.”

SM Zaffar, counsel for Justice Zahid Hussain who had taken oath under the PCO, gave this argument on Monday. A four-member bench of the Supreme Court was hearing contempt of court cases against PCO judges who violated a seven-member bench’s decision on November 3, 2007 when then president Pervez Musharraf imposed a nationwide emergency.

Justice Shahid Siddiqui, who headed the bench said, “Judges took a firm stand against the president of the country, but his move was rejected by some judges of the superior court after taking oath under the PCO.”

Zafar contended, “If the court opens up the contempt of court cases against the judges then God knows how many cases will be sent before the Supreme Court and High Court judges.”

“It will undermine the sovereignty and sanctity of this institution,” he added. Not following the procedure stated under Article 209 would nullify the basics of the institution.

The counsel said that in the July 31, 2009 judgment there was no mention of contempt of court but it was, however, included in the October 5, 2009 judgment. He said that the judgment stated if any judge were to engage in misconduct, he would be tried under Article 209. He added that if his client had done something wrong he should be dealt with in accordance with the misconduct.

SM Zafar will resume his argument today (Tuesday) and hopefully reach a conclusion. The proceedings for contempt of court notice against the PCO judges started on May 10, 2010 and since then, three judges, Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Raja Fayyaz and Justice Said Mohammad Ali have recused themselves from hearing the PCO judges’ case.

The court has been hearing the cases of Justice (retd) Abdul Hameed Dogar, former chief justice of Supreme Court and Justice (retd) Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry, former chief justice of the Lahore High Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2011.