Contempt bill sails through the Senate

Amid a ‘soft resistance’ by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senators, the ruling coalition on Wednesday night sailed through with its controversial amendment bill, the Contempt of Court Bill 2012, with a majority vote.
The bill had already been passed by the National Assembly on Monday and aims at removal of judicial powers under contempt law. Under the new law, the president, prime minister, ministers and chief ministers will be immune from contempt of court proceedings under Article 284-1 of the constitution. The law also states that criticism of court orders, if made in the appropriate language, would not be contempt of court. Other necessary provisions relevant to contempt of court proceedings have also been incorporated in the new law.
The bill, which would allegedly provide cover to Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf from possible disqualification by the Supreme Court under contempt of court law, was presented by Minister for Law Farooq H Naik. The political isolation of the PML-N was further exposed as no other opposition party joined its members on their way out of the House when the opposition leader Senator Ishaq Dar announced to walk out to protest the passage of the bill.
Though the JUI-F senators also joined the PML-N’s voice of dissent against the contempt bill in their speeches, no one opposed the bill vigorously during voting and the PML-N members offered a weak “no” against a strong “yes” from treasury benches.
However, there were three strong voices from within the ruling coalition against passage of the bill in “haste”, as Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, Mian Raza Rabbani and Mushahid Hussain Sayed cautioned the government not to go for the legislation abruptly and rather debate it and remove the controversial clauses from the bill, which were a recipe for an executive-judiciary collision. Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan adopted a cautious approach towards the bill, saying two clauses were controversial and if the apex court’s attention was diverted towards both of them, it would not take long to declare them ultra-vires of constitution. He urged the law minister to review the clause one of the Section 3 of the bill and the sub-section 3 of the clause 11, which he said were in conflict with Article 204.
Aitzaz said there was a provision in sub-section 3 of the clause 11 which was identical to the contempt of court bill which was introduced by Nawaz Sharif’s government in year 1997. He said except for these two clauses, the bill would help provide a balance between the judiciary and executive.
Aitzaz said the bill was prepared in haste and history showed that any legislation which was made in rapidity normally backfired. “Whenever such legislation is made in haste, it benefits the government and its ministers. However, whenever the party which introduces such a law goes to the opposition benches, they have to face the music and the same party is reminded that they had introduced the same law,” he added. “Any law made in hast can prove be deleterious,” he said.
Aitzaz, however, shared his concerns about the apex court verdict about the disqualification of former PM Yousaf Raza Gilani.
He also said that the contempt of court law was to an extent against the freedom of expression. Mian Raza Rabbani said the current political situation of the country demanded for political as well as judicial maturity. He said the contempt law was being reviewed in other countries of the world, just like Pakistan. “But there is a difference between those countries and Pakistan. In other countries, the enforcement of judgment and rule of law is not due to fear of contempt law but because people respect courts’ decision there. Executive will become unbridled if this law is abolished in Pakistan,” he added. He was also of the view that the court would set aside the bill, hence, it should not be pursued at this juncture of time. Mushahid Hussain Sayed of the PML-Q seconded the views expressed by Aitzaz Ahsan and Raza Rabbani. He said any legislation passed in haste would serve no good.
“We should learn lesson from the past and should try to legislate above party lines. There is no law for the rich and powerful, hence we need the contempt law,” he said. He also stressed for political and judicial restraint. “We are passing through political evolution and should avoid any kind of confrontation,” he added. Senator Faratullah Babar of PPP said that the contempt of court bill was not presented in haste but the reality was that the country needed it.
“People must respect courts because of their decisions and not because of a contempt law,” he remarked. Law Minister Farooq H Naik said the constitution gave parliament the right to legislate. “We are not against the judiciary, but respect the constitution,” he added. Earlier, expressing his reservations over the bill, Leader of the Opposition Ishaq Dar said his party opposed the bill that was being brought in just to save the skin of the prime minister. He said lawmakers should have been given sufficient time for discussion on the bill and the rules had been suspended to bulldoze the bill despite the fact that the government enjoyed majority in both Houses of parliament.
Dar added that even if the bill was approved, the PML-N would try to make sure that it did not remain part of the constitution. He was of the view that the apex court could strike it down as it was introduced in a haste under malafide intentions as the prime minister had been summoned by the apex court today (Thursday) in NRO implementation case. Raja Zafarul Haq and Syed Zafar Ali Shah of the PML-N were also of the view that the bill was being passed in haste. Hasil Khan Bizenjo of National Party said the contempt bill should be sent to the concerned standing committee for a debate.