ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has turned down former state minister for interior Tallal Chaudhry’s plea seeking the adjournment of hearing of contempt of court case against him till after the general elections.
The court has fixed the hearing of contempt of court case for June 28.
A three-member bench of SC presided over by Justice Gulzar Ahmad took up the case for hearing on Thursday.
Kamran Murtaza, counsel for Tallal told the court that he apologizes for not appearing in the court on the previous hearing due to his sickness and marriage of two nieces.
Justice Gulzar Ahmad said, “The witness is present. His statement should be recorded.”
PEMRA General Manager Muhammad Tahir appeared as a witness in the court.
“You have been working as PEMRA GM since when?” Murtaza asked the witness.
Tahir said that he has been working as PEMRA GM since 2015.
Justice Gulzar Ahmad said, “Do not ask irrelevant questions from the witness.”
The PEMRA GM told the court that no complaint was received in PEMRA against Tallal.
Murtaza asked whether he gave the reply in regard to Tallal’s letter after checking the record.
Tahir said that he gave a reply after checking the record.
Additional Attorney General (AAG) Amir Rehman said, “I want to ask a question from the witness as the prosecution.”
Justice Faisal Arab remarked, “The counsel for the accused has not asked any question. What is your question about?”
AAG said, “I have to ask the question from the witness about the correctness of the record.”
Witness Muhammad Tahir told the court no one lodged a complaint against Tallal on insulting statements. Complaints were received in PEMRA against the statements of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz.
Prosecution counsel questioned whether the transcripts of insulting speeches of Tallal are correct.
“Verifying the transcript is not my job. Monitoring section can verify the transcript,” the witness replied.
Following PEMRA GM’s statements, the court inquired about other witnesses from Murtaza.
Murtaza said that the other witnesses could not come due to Eid holidays.
Justice Gulzar Ahmad remarked, “Eid holidays have come to an end.”
The counsel for Tallal prayed for fixing the case for hearing after July 25.
Justice Gulzar Ahmad remarked that the case cannot be adjourned beyond July 25.
Tallal requested for fixing the case for hearing after the elections.
Justice Gulzar remarked, “You are a politician. You can do several tasks at a time. We will dispose of the case within a few days.”
The court, while giving Tallal exemption from appearance in the next hearing, adjourned the case till June 28.
