The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday adjourned to Dec 5 the hearing of a contempt of court petition filed against President Asif Ali Zardari for not relinquishing the political office of PPP co-chairman.
The LHC declared that hearing of the case would take place on daily basis from Dec 5. Adding that, it said that it was necessary to decide over the issue of presidential immunity before moving on with the contempt of court proceedings.
A plea was presented before LHC’s larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial on behalf of Federation’s counsel Waseem Sajjad which stated that Sajjad was busy in the Supreme Court and therefore it was not possible for him to attend this hearing.
Counsel of the petitioner said that after Supreme Court’s verdict of Asghar Khan case which defined the role of the president as non-political, Asif Ali Zardari was automatically disqualified as president.
Chief Justice Umar Bandial remarked that the court should be informed that how does the Supreme Court’s Asghar Khan case verdict affect this case.
The hearing was subsequently adjourned until Dec 5.
Earlier on Nov 7, the LHC had subsequently adjourned the hearing until Nov 21 and directed the president’s counsel to present his arguments pertaining to presidential immunity in criminal cases.
Zardari dual office case: LHC adjourns hearing to Dec 5
