News
Friday, April 27, 2012
All in 32 secondsConvicted, jailed, freed
* SC says Gilani guilty of contempt for willful flouting, disregard and disobedience of its direction
* Orders imprisonment of PM ‘until rising of the court’
* Says contempt committed by prime minister tends to bring court and judiciary into ridicule
By Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: A two-year-long tug-of-war between the judiciary and Pakistan People’s Party-led government ended on Thursday with the conviction of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in a contempt of court case.
A seven-member bench, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, also ordered the prime minister’s imprisonment until the rising of the court, which lasted 32 seconds. The court passed two orders, one in which the prime minister was convicted and the other regarding release from the sentence. “The respondent (PM) appeared in person along with his counsel. The order was passed in the open court. After that, the convict remained in the custody of the court till his release upon rising of the court,” the order said.
Before the announcement of the short order, all the seven judges of the bench signed it in the court. “For the reasons to be recorded later, the accused, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister of Pakistan and chief executive of the federation, is found guilty and convicted for contempt of court under Article 204(2) of the constitution read with Section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003, for willful flouting, disregard and disobedience of this court’s direction contained in paragraph 178 of the NRO judgement, after our satisfaction that the contempt committed by him is substantially detrimental to the administration of justice and tends to bring this court and the judiciary of this country into ridicule,” Justice Nasirul Mulk said.
The order further says, “The conviction for contempt of court ... are likely to entail some serious consequences in terms of Article 63(1)(g) of the constitution, which may be treated as mitigating factors towards the sentence to be passed against him (PM).” The Article 63(1)(g) says, “A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if .... he defames or brings into ridicule the judiciary or the Armed Forces of Pakistan, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release.”
“As regards the sentence to be passed against the convict, we note that the findings and the conviction for contempt of court recorded above are likely to entail some serious consequences in terms of Article 63(1)(g) of the constitution which may be treated as mitigating factors towards the sentence to be passed against him. He is, therefore, punished under Article 5 of the contempt of court ordinance (ordinance 5 of 2003) with imprisonment till the rising of the court today,” the court said in its order.
After the rising of the court, the premier discussed the court’s order with his counsel, Aitzaz Ahsan, and Law Minister Farooq H Naek for a few minutes in the courtroom.
After the bench had announced its decision, Aitzaz requested it to give him some time to give his submissions but the court ignored his request. Aitzaz said, “The court has gone beyond the scope of charges framed against the PM on February 13.” He claimed the prime minister has been convicted of allegedly scandalising the court.
Sherwani-clad prime minister had arrived at the court premises on foot in a hail of rose petals, surrounded by cabinet ministers, coalition allies and hundreds of Pakistan People’s Party loyalists. Party workers raised slogans in his favour. Gilani left the court amid a scrum of journalists and supporters from the PPP. Security was tight in and outside the court building with around 2,000 riot police armed with shields and batons stationed outside, and approaches closed to the public. Helicopters hovered in the Red Zone. On his way out of the courtroom Gilani remarked the ruling was “inappropriate”.
Meanwhile, recently appointed Attorney General Irfan Qadir, who acted as prosecutor in the contempt case, told reporters that the verdict was “unconstitutional and unlawful”. He said the court’s decision was gross violation of Article 25, 248, 89 and 264. He reiterated country had no contempt law.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk