Awan’s rants cost him licence, temporarily

Irked by the “unbecoming behaviour” of senior lawyer and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Babar Awan and to ensure dignity and respect of the court, the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday temporarily suspended Awan’s licence to practice law and directed the attorney general to inform the president to engage another lawyer to address arguments in his reference to revisit the death sentence of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, which the apex court said was one of the most important cases in its history. However, to provide fair opportunity to Awan, the court granted him time to file his reply and engage a counsel to defend himself. The court directed him to request the registrar to take up the case as soon as he engaged his counsel and filed the reply.
As soon as an 11-member larger bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took its seats to resume hearing on the presidential reference, Awan, counsel for President Asif Ali Zardari, requested the court to grant him more time to file a reply and engage a counsel for the contempt notice issued to him.
The court turned down his request saying he had already been granted more than enough time, adding that unless the show-cause notice issued to him under Order IV, Rule 30 of the Supreme Court Rules of 1980 was decided, it would not be appropriate to proceed with the reference.
In reaction to the first show-cause notice issued to Awan 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 the memo controversy, Awan had again ridiculed the court by saying that he had been served the notice because he was the federation’s counsel in the presidential reference and the purpose was to render his arguments ineffective.
He had also recited verses in Punjabi to the effect that nothing happened despite the issuance of a notice. “Why make a complaint to the darling, why not welcome it?” the verses had said.
The court directed its registrar to collect the enrolment files of Awan from the Pakistan Bar Council and the Punjab Bar Council, where he was enrolled as advocate of the high court, as well as the judicial files in pursuance whereof he was issued contempt of court notices by the Lahore High Court.
The court noted that it was not the first time Awan was issued a contempt of court notice by a two-member Supreme Court bench, but the Lahore High Court had issued him similar notices previously. Justice Mian Saqib Nisar pointed out that once he had also called Awan to his chambers for a contempt notice, but the notice was disposed of after Awan apologised.
Awan told the court that he was the member of a major political party of the country and he always respected the judiciary. The chief justice observed that where the judiciary was not respected, the system was derailed.
The court noted further that he had been appearing in the apex court and it had always respected him, but the attitude shown by him on January 4, 2012 after receipt of show-cause notice over the contemptuous press conference compelled the court to issue him a notice asking him to explain why his licence to practice law at the Supreme Court should not be cancelled.
The court observed that a good relationship between the bench and the bar depended upon mutual respect, adding that the apex court deserved to be respected by all concerned, particularly the lawyers to whom licences were issued to appear in the apex court.
“If an institution like the Supreme Court is not respected and an attempt is made to lower its prestige in the eyes of the general public, then it would be very difficult to administer justice because this is the court whose working/decisions send a message down to the court of the magistrate and the civil judge that they should administer justice without fear or favour, and if the court is maligned by anyone, then it would not be possible to maintain its dignity and status,” the court said further.
The court then adjourned hearing of the reference for an indefinite period, stating that the hearing of the reference would be resumed as soon as the president nominated another counsel to address the arguments.