ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court on Thursday accepted an unconditional apology by former de-facto chief justice of Pakistan Justice (r) Abdul Hameed Dogar for taking oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) in violation of SC’s November 3, 2007 restraint order and terminated the contempt of court notice issued to him.
The court also withdrew contempt of court notice against dysfunctional PCO judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Sayed Zahid Hussain after his counsel SM Zafar said his client had tendered an unconditional apology for taking oath under the PCO in. Zafar said his client had opted for pre-mature retirement, therefore, contempt of court notice issued to him may be withdrawn.
Submitting the apology and record pertaining to pre-mature retirement of Justice Sayed Zahid Hussain, Zafar said the president had accepted his client’s application. The seven-member SC special bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Amir Hani Muslim was hearing intra-court appeals by retired and dysfunctional PCO judges of the superior courts against its earlier order of February 2, 2011.
The chief justice said it was good that the judges had realised their mistakes. “We all are here to protect the sanctity of the institution,” the chief justice said. During the hearing, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq presented before the court the written apology by Justice (r) Abdul Hameed Dogar.
Placing himself at the mercy of the court, he requested the court to accept his regrets and withdraw contempt notice issued to him. Raza Kazim, lawyer for dysfunctional PCO judge Hamid Ali Shah, sought adjournment for two weeks. Dr Khalid Ranjha, lawyer for retired PCO Justice (r) Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry and Dr Abdul Basit, lawyer for dysfunctional PCO judges Shabbar Raza Rizvi and Hasnat Ahmed Khan, as well as other lawyers also sought adjournment for two weeks, requesting the court to first decide their intra-court appeals and then initiate proceedings for framing contempt charge against their clients.
The court adjourned the proceedings for two weeks, accordingly. Meanwhile, it was reported that following the acceptance of Justice (r) Dogar’s apology by the Supreme Court for taking oath under the PCO, President Asif Ali Zardari is likely to appoint him federal ombudsman A source in the Presidency told Pakistan Today that the government had been mulling to appoint Justice (r) Dogar the new federal ombudsman.
“There are two strong contenders in the race – Justice (r) Abdul Hameed Dogar and Salman Farooqi and Justice (r) Dogar is a stronger than Farooqi,” the source said.
