News
Saturday, November 09, 2013
AG refuses to prosecute defence secy for contemptStaff Report
ISLAMABAD: Attorney General of Pakistan Muneer A Malik has refused to act as prosecutor in a contempt case against incumbent Defence Secretary Lt Gen (r) Asif Yasif Malik.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court has issued a stay on the contempt proceedings against the defence secretary until the decision on his intra-court appeal (ICA) against the framing of charges on his failure to hold local bodies’ elections in 43 cantonment boards. A five-member bench headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, and comprising Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Athar Saeed, Justice Azmat Sheikh Saeed and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, heard Malik’s intra-court appeal.
During the hearing, the AGP told the bench that he had recused himself from the case because he was directly associated with this matter. Citing the Supreme Court’s July 2, 2013 order, Muneer A Malik said that the court’s order stated that the defence secretary had submitted an undertaking about holding elections in cantonment areas after consultation with the election commission and attorney general of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Iftikhar Gilani, counsel for the defence secretary, submitted that his client could not even think of committing contempt of court. He stated that it was the duty of the government to hold local government elections in the cantonment boards. Gilani stated that during a career spanning 38 years, this was the first time that his client had been accused in any matter. He said Malik had given the undertaking in the Supreme Court in good faith.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk