Irked by the “unbecoming behaviour” of former law minister Dr Babar Awan, the Supreme Court on Thursday abruptly put off the hearing of the presidential reference and issued another show-cause notice to Awan, asking him to explain why his licence to practice law at the SC should not be cancelled.
“We are the issuing authority and have the powers to cancel the licences as well,” Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry remarked before issuing Awan the second show-cause notice in 24 hours.
“Prima facie, we are of the view that the conduct of Dr Babar Awan is unbecoming of an advocate of the SC, therefore, we issue notice to him under Rule 30 of Order IV of the Supreme Court Rules, 1980 to explain why his name should be not removed from the roll of the advocates of this court,” the court said in its order. The court was scheduled to take up for hearing the reference filed by President Asif Zardari seeking a revisit of the death sentence awarded to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
When the 11-judge bench headed by the CJP began the proceedings and Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, one of the amicus curiae, proceeded to resume his arguments, the chief justice called Babar Awan to the rostrum. He asked Awan to respond to the first show-cause notice served on him for passing derogatory remarks against the judiciary at a press conference with four other PPP leaders after the court ordered formation of a judicial commission to probe into the memo controversy.
The chief justice drew Awan’s attention towards a news item according to which he had stated that the notice had been served on him because he was the federation’s counsel in the presidential reference and the purpose was to render his arguments ineffective. Instead of giving a clear reply, Awan asked the CJP to see other papers as well, saying, “I have been called a barber.” He said the court should also take notice of such comments against a senior lawyer, adding that his words uttered on television in fact reflected respect.
“OK, we can watch the footage aired by various TV channels and then proceed further,” the chief justice said. The proceedings were adjourned for 10 minutes to make arrangements to play the video footage and finally the footage was played in the courtroom showing Awan saying that in the past also, criminal cases were registered against him when he was conducting cases of Benazir Bhutto and Zardari.
He also recited a couplet in Punjabi meaning that “nothing happened despite issuance of a notice. Why make a complaint to the darling and why not to welcome it”. Other members of Awan’s legal team were shown derisively laughing at the prank.
The court asked senior lawyers, including Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Yasin Azad and Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Vice Chairman Latif Afridi whether the words and gesture amounted to bringing the court to ridicule. Both condemned the remarks and said they could not approve such a conduct from a senior lawyer like Awan, but asked the court to exercise restraint in order to avoid confrontation between institutions.
The chief justice said there was no confrontation between the organs of the state and all institutions, including the judiciary, legislature and the executive, favoured rule of law and constitution. Aitzaz Ahsan said the court was seized with a very important presidential reference that must not be detracted intentionally or unintentionally due to this matter. He said the entire nation was awaiting outcome of the reference and requested the court not to press the matter.
The chief justice agreed that it was a historic and important reference, saying, “We are bound to hear it as our duty. We are not obliging anybody by hearing it.”
He said the court would continue hearing the reference and would hear all lawyers, but said the matter of contempt could not be ignored, as it involved the court’s dignity.
The three senior lawyers asked the court to give them 30 minutes to find out an amicable solution, but Justice Jawwad S Khawaja took a firm stand by saying that it was not a matter of some individual but a question of the respect of an institution being served by him for the last thirty years.
He said he would not support the idea even if all other members of the bench agreed to show leniency.
The CJP then asked Awan the date of his enrolment as a SC lawyer and ordered the registrar to put up Awan’s file before the bench when Awan said he did not remember the exact date. “We do not issue licences to lawyers who behave like this,” the chief justice said.
After the file was made available to the bench, it was found that Awan was enrolled as an advocate of the SC on May 29, 2000 and was conferred upon the status of senior advocate on May 29, 2008.
Passing a short order, the court issued a show-cause notice to Awan, asking him to file a written reply by January 9, explaining why his name should not be struck off the roll of advocates of the SC.
The court order said the content of the utterance, the gestures made and the body language were indicative of an attempt to ridicule the court.
It said interaction between the bench and bar depended upon mutual respect. “Irrespective of the fact which bench issued the notice, the fact remains that it was a part of the judiciary,” the court said. The hearing was later put off until January 9.
pagal he yar
I hate him…he is one of da useless men lingering on this earth!!
politician sux
good……SC great
hang him plz upside down
IOO NotiCES BABAR awan DEserves.CONVICTED.so HIS Guru ZardARI,chaIRMAN ppp WHO IS THE MAIN force.he should also BE CIONTEMPTED AND GIVEN NOTIce .with him galaNI,ALTAF hussein the main devilish force behind ppp-zardari.ANChors like DR DANISH,NAJI,BADAMI,ASMA SHirazi,mir,ayazas,kanmil ali agha,WASEEM akhtar,abbas hider rizivi,mUSTAFA kamal,raza abidi,shirmilla,fauzia,mari shazi etyc etc be all convicted for often INSULTING SCP
So this is Dr. Babar Awan (no surprise from so called doctors of this government. Dr. Rehman Malik is another in the jungle.)
Look at "fat" patches blow his eyes. Clear indication that he drink a lot :))
Kuch ziada he power aur hakumat ka nasha hai.ye insan bohat he over clever aur over confident banta hai.Alaha iss ko aaqal de AmeenAur hum kuch be nahi kar saktey.
I adore your design, where did you obtain it through?
n e how nice post
justice chaudry is not impartial judge. he is another Maulvi Mushtaq in the making.
A very deplorable comment.
Agreed…..PPP was always wronged by judiciary..!
Shiekh Saadi of Shiraz would describe; He who has self-conceit in his head, do not imagine that he will ever hear the truth.
Ban this fool.
Mr Saleem's (Abid Saleem) comment regarding the Chief Justice of Pakistan is highly deplorable and worthy of severe condemnation.
Mr Saleem's comments regarding the Chief Justice of Pakistan is highly deplorable and worthy of severe condemnation.
Babar Awan and his likes are responsible for the legal hell of zardari government. His ill advices on different legal matters has landed his own government in a trouble. When you ridicule the rulings of courts and make fun of them, it means you do not have the capability to defend your case in a court of law. Legal profession demands that either convice others or be convinced. But he is there to instigate the courts with his naggings and abuse. No body knows he is working for whom.
It is a tragedy that Zardari governemnt do not have a capable legal team to rescue it from this fuss. Zardari govt. should raise the level of its legal team from barrak baz wakeels to learned ones. After all there is no dearth of competent legal minds in the country.
Amjad Husain
Riyadh-Saudi Arabia
This foolish guy is provoking the judiciary to punish him so that PPP start claiming victimhood in front of their "jiyalas".
PPP just wants to portray itself as "shaheed" to get votes like they always do. Never mind their corruption, bad management and lack of governance.
These jiyala's should learn about true Islam and move away from all this idol worshiping.
Brother! You are 101 percent correct. This is outrageous behaviour and reflects the uncivilized character of the man and the party he represents and is a member of. Salams to Pakistan and the Supreme Court
Truth always hurts. I agree with what Mr. Babar Awan said now and before. CJ sahib is working on some unholy agenda due to his pick and choose cases.
IMC is TaraMasih in making
Do the Pakistanis mark the resemblance between their ex federal law Minister and Abu Jahal ?
Dr. Awan deserves for the removal of his name from SC senior lawyers list…Lets c what happened but sometime courts have soft corners for such senior lawyers but RULE OF LAW must be for all citizen of Pakistan and he must face the music.
The court should earn respect through its deeds. If its conduct is not right, no contempt proceedings can restore it. Unfortunately, our judges do not understand this basic point.
Dear Mr/Dr. awan, i don,t have a legal mind but a medical one(consultant). I have learnt
to be humble and teach my students to be humble.You sir do not exhibit these traits. You were first a federal minister and the judges used to defer to you .You then resigned to defend the indefensible case against ZAB in front of the same judiiary.Your attitude towards the learned judges has nothing less than arrogant., patrionising, sarcastic. You hug the media like a superstar. One forgets what your argument is. I have no doubt that you are a very competent lawyer but must you indulge in this sort of behaviour which i feel is not befitting a man of your calibre. You are supposed to lead by example! I understand media is addicting but must you get addicted? The supreme court has become a circus where t.v screens are brought inn to see your performance. I applaud the judges for keeping the dignity of the court. How long will this continue.?
Justice Khawaja took a right stand and CJP took required action against this poor breed of Machiavellian characters who is always out to prove himself more loyal to the king than king himself as he has managed to grab a position not at all in correspondence with his ablity and traits. As CJP,it's not a confrontation among the insititutions ,rather a move for upholding the dignity of a prime institution. If anyone tries to manipulate it as such,he/she should be dealt adequately toforestall such an attempt in future.
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