Contempt of court bill challenged in Supreme Court
11 July, 2012
ISLAMABAD: The contempt of court bill, which is yet to be approved by the Senate, was challenged in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
One petition was filed by Muhammad Siddique Baloch through Ikram Chaudhry, while the other was filed by Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi, a social worker.
Baloch prayed the court that the bill passed by the National Assembly was ultra vires of the constitution and against Article 8 of the constitution. He stated that the bill was also in violation of articles 2-A, 4, 5, 25, 175, 203, 204 and 248 of the 1973 constitution.
Making federation, through Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, party, he stated that the respondent through contempt of court bill had unconstitutionally and unlawfully attempted to make the constitutional provisions ineffective, which was not warranted by any law. "The law is discriminatory, against principle of equality of citizens and its aim is to curtail the independence of judiciary," he said.
He further prayed that the law was the "result of legislative competence and being without jurisdiction therefore should be declared ultra vires and without legal effect."
He said the bill passed by the majority of members of the National Assembly was another NRO. The purpose of the bill was to protect certain important persons and to obstruct the implementation of lawful orders of courts and to pave way for negation of accountability process.
The applicant stated that during the last four-and-half years, efforts had been made to violate the constitution and the Supreme Court's judgements, adding that environment of corruption and bad governance had continued.
Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi, the other petitioner, made Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Law Ministry, establishment and cabinet divisions secretaries respondents, besides the federation, in his applications.
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