A seven-member special bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday convicted Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani of committing contempt of court and imprisoned him until the rising of the court, which happened for less than a minute after the verdict was announced, making Gilani the first prime minister in Pakistan’s history of being found guilty of committing contempt.
The bench also referred to Article 63 (1) (g) of the constitution, which may disqualify Gilani from remaining in parliament, since he had brought “into ridicule the judiciary”.
The bench of Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Muhammad Ather Saeed, announced its short order reserved on April 24.
“For reasons to be recorded later, the accused, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, prime minister of Pakistan and chief executive of the federation, is found guilty and convicted of contempt of court under Article 204 (2) of the constitution read with Section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003, for willful flouting, disregard and disobedience of this court’s direction contained in paragraph 178 of the NRO judgment, after our satisfaction that the contempt committed by him is substantially detrimental to the administration of justice and tends to bring this court and the judiciary of this country into ridicule,” Justice Nasirul Mulk said.
“As regards the sentence to be passed against the convict, we note that the findings and the conviction for contempt of court are likely to entail some serious consequences in terms of Article 63 (1) (g) of the Constitution, which may be treated as mitigating factors towards the sentence to be passed against him. He is, therefore, punished under Article 5 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003 with imprisonment till the rising of the court today”, the short order further said.
Prime Minister Gilani stood before the bench to hear the verdict in contempt case for not implementing the court’s ruling in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case and smiled when the verdict was read out in a packed courtroom.
Under the constitution, anyone convicted of defaming or ridiculing the judiciary is barred from being an MP, but legal experts say the process to disqualify Gilani could be a lengthy one, involving the National Assembly speaker and the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Gilani is the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Pakistan, where civilian governments have repeatedly been toppled by the country’s powerful military, often with the support of the Supreme Court, which critics allege is heavily politicized.
Corruption charges have routinely been used to target those in power, or seeking to return to it.
The court issued contempt notice to the premier in February this year for his refusal to write a letter to the Swiss authorities for reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The prime minister appeared twice in the court and maintained his innocence throughout, saying he had done nothing against the rules of business.
Aitzaz Ahsan, the PM’s counsel, had argued that the bench was not eligible to hear the case as it had taken suo motu notice of the case itself. It was the first time in the history of Pakistan that a prime minister appeared before the court thrice and was convicted of contempt.
Article 63 (1) (g) states that: “A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if he has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction for propagating any opinion, or acting in any manner, prejudicial to the ideology of Pakistan, or the sovereignty, integrity or security of Pakistan, or morality, or the maintenance of public order, or the integrity or independence of the judiciary of Pakistan, or which defames or brings into ridicule the judiciary or the Armed Forces of Pakistan, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release.”
Gilani could face a maximum sentence of six months in prison, but the court ordered him to be “imprisoned” until the rising of the court and he emerged shortly afterwards smiling and waving to supporters.
The case has been highly politically charged, with members of the government accusing judges of over-stepping their domain and trying to bring down the prime minister and president a year before the administration would become the first in Pakistan to complete an elected term.
At 9am on Thursday, Sherwani-clad Prime Minister Gilani entered the court premises on foot like a common man in a hail of rose petals surrounded by cabinet ministers, coalition allies and hundreds of PPP loyalists. On the occasion‚ the party workers also raised slogans in his favor.
At 9:45am, he left the court with the same self-assurance, equanimity, stoicism and protocol. Gilani is now a convicted man and is poised to lose his office. The proceedings started at 9:30am and lasted for less than five minutes. Gilani was represented by Aitzaz Ahsan. The bench left the courtroom within 30 seconds of the ruling.
Just after the ruling, Aitzaz told reporters in a brief talk that he would file an appeal against the conviction. Recently-appointed Attorney General Irfan Qadir, who remained prosecutor in the contempt case for sometime, told reporters that the verdict was “unconstitutional and unlawful”.
Gilani also remarked on his way out of the courtroom that the ruling was “inappropriate”.
To a query, he said he will not accept a presidential pardon. Gilani left the court amid a scrum of journalists and supporters from the PPP.
‘JAILED FOR 30 SECONDS’
