ISLAMABAD – A four-member larger bench of the Supreme Court on Monday directed S M Zafar, counsel for one of the PCO judges, to conclude his arguments by today (Tuesday).
The bench, comprising Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez, was hearing contempt of court cases against the superior courts’ judges who had taken oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) in defiance of a seven-judge bench’s restrain order of November 3, 2007.
Resuming his arguments, S M Zafar, counsel for Justice Sayed Zahid Hussain of the Supreme Court, argued that a contempt of court notice could not be issued to a superior court judge. He said contempt of court proceedings are initiated against a common man and if a judge violates the law, he could be tried over the charges of misconduct under Article 209 of the Constitutional by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
He said the Supreme Court had already held judges when accused of committing misconduct could be tried under Article 209.
Justice Tariq Parvez said that in the contempt of court cases against judges, there was no issue that the superior courts’ judges had taken oath under the PCO, instead it was the matter of violation of an apex court order, which was a contempt of court.
S.M Zafar said that his client, who is a judge of the Supreme Court, was on leave, which rendered the court incomplete. “A court cannot be considered complete without a judge, because he is an important and integral part of the court,” S M Zafar argued. He also pleaded that the judge in question, being a judge of the Supreme Court himself, represented the court, thus contempt proceedings could not be initiated against him.
Justice Mahmood Akhtar Siddiqui remarked that when the judiciary confronted a dictator on Nov 3, 2007, some judges supported him despite the fact that his steps had not been endorsed by the parliament.
He said an institution could not be established within an institution. He said, “For the first time in country’s history, a chief judge took firm stand against illegal steps by a president, but his move was failed by an unconstitutional act of PCO judges”.
The contempt of court proceedings against the PCO judges were started on May 10, 2010 and since then three judges – Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Justice Muhammad Sair Ali had separated themselves from hearing the PCO judges’ case on various accounts.
