News
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
SC is the ultimate authority: CJP* Says no one should have doubts over court’s position
* SC seeks all statements issued by ISPR, article written by Zardari, transcript of Najam Sethi’s programmes
By Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said the apex court has the ultimate authority; therefore no one should be mistaken. He added national institutions are strong and there should be no doubt about it.
Hearing the case of media’s role in the aftermath of the Abbottabad operation, the Supreme Court on Tuesday sought all press releases issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations and the article written by President Asif Ali Zardari in the Washington Post following the operation.
A three-member bench, headed by the CJP, heard Advocate Sardar Ghazi against the media’s role in the wake of the US raid in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2. The petition was filed in June against media coverage in the aftermath of the incident last year. During the hearing, Ibrahim Satti and Raja Irshad appeared on behalf of the petitioner.
The court also sought the statements of Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US and the transcript of journalist Najam Sethi’s programmes held after May 2 to determine whether they violated Article 19 of the constitution and if the Supreme Court had jurisdiction in this regard or not?
Article 19 says, “Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, [commission of] or incitement to an offence.”
At the onset of the hearing, Satti said their petition was pending for one year and if the court did not want to take it up then they could withdraw it. Upon this, the CJP said the court did not ask them to file the petition as it fixed cases according to its rules. The CJP told him he could withdraw he petition if he wanted.
Later, Raja Irshad appeared on behalf of the petitioner and prayed to the court to ban media groups that had maligned the armed forces, intelligence agencies and other defence and security institutions after the Abbottabad incident. Irshad told the court the army respected the court and had implemented all its orders. The chief justice remarked, “Yes, we have witnessed it yesterday. Our position is very clear and no one should have any kind of doubts.”
The counsel said Monday’s statements were exaggerated. The media had wrongly depicted statements of the army chief and the chief justice and had given the impression that both state institutions were in conflict with each another. The CJP however, asked to focus on the case in question, saying the court is taking stock of the issue. Later, the court adjourned the hearing to November 22 and directed the petitioner to present all relevant records in court on the next hearing.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk