SC to indict Tallal on contempt charges on 14th

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court decided on Thursday to indict State Interior Minister Tallal Chaudhry on March 14, a day after the apex court is set to indict another Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader—Daniyal Aziz, in a contempt of court case.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan heard the contempt case against Tallal Chaudhry.

The bench decided to frame charges against the minister at the next hearing on March 14.

At the last hearing on Tuesday, the SC directed a federal law officer to provide CD recordings to Tallal of his anti-judiciary speech, which led to the institution of a contempt of court case against him.
The federal minister’s lawyer asked the court to provide CD recordings of his client’s speech in question. The bench observed that he had already been given a transcript of the speech and directed the additional attorney general to provide the minister CD recordings.

On February 24, the minister had requested the court to withdraw the case, stating that scandalising the court or doing anything that tends to bring the court into “hatred, ridicule or contempt” is “not even the last thing on the respondent’s mind”.

“Whatever has been said might have been taken into account without relevance to the context due to media reporting,” Chaudhry had written in his initial response.

The apex court had initiated contempt proceedings against Chaudhry on account of “derogatory and contemptuous speeches/statements” with regard to the court, according to a notification issued on February 2.