ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday shifted the contempt case against former Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senator Faisal Raza Abidi to another bench.
During the hearing, Abidi appeared before the court as he was summoned by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar over his ‘anti-judiciary’ remarks on a private television channel.
The CJP, after watching the footage of the relative show in court, remarked that Abidi has yet to apologise.
Abidi’s counsel responded by saying that the Supreme Court rejected the two requests submitted on behalf of Abidi, stating that the method of divorce was ‘improper’.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan inquired if Abidi’s counsel has a licence to practice law at the SC.
The bench also rejected the counsel’s plea to shift the hearing to Karachi, however, the court did approve his petition of sending the contempt case to another bench.
On April 18, CJP Saqib Nisar directed police to produce Abidi before the SC at the next hearing.
Hearing a contempt case against Abidi, a three-member bench of SC headed by the CJP remarked, “Faisal Raza Abidi should be brought before the court at the next hearing”.
SC had on Tuesday taken a suo moto notice of the alleged anti-judiciary comments made by the former senator Faisal Raza Abidi during a programme on Channel 5.
PEMRA had issued a show cause notice to Channel 5 on April 13 asking it to submit a reply and appear before it within three days-time, a statement issued said.
Following channel’s explanation, the regulatory authority imposed a three-month ban on the programme and further informed the channel administration that in case of any further violation their license may be cancelled.
