The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of a contempt of court petition filed against President Asif Zardari for not relinquishing the political office of PPP co-chairman to November 21. A five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, heard the case.
The court forwarded the case to the single bench over the petition filed by Jamaat i Islami (JI) which had pleaded disqualification of the president. The chief justice of the LHC said that a full bench cannot hear the case and it would be on the discretion of the single bench whether to allow the formation of a larger bench or not.
Counsel for the president in the case, Wasim Sajjad, said that during a previous hearing, the court did not issue any order and instead, it just expressed its expectations. The counsel said that contempt of court proceedings could not be initiated on the basis of expectations. The court enquired of the president’s counsel as to why the court order pertaining to abandonment of political activities in the presidency has not been implemented yet.
Sajjad replied that ‘contempt of the court’ was in the category of the criminal cases and the president enjoyed immunity in such cases.
The LHC subsequently adjourned the hearing until November 21 and directed the president’s counsel to present his arguments pertaining to presidential immunity in criminal cases.
