Due to the unavailability of Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq, the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday again adjourned the hearing of the contempt of court case against former law minister Babar Awan and fixed April 10 for framing contempt charges against him.
The court was scheduled to frame contempt charges against Awan on March 20, however the unavailability of his counsel Ali Zafar delayed the proceedings. The court then set April 2 as the new date for framing charges against Awan for his media jibe at the judiciary. However the proceedings were delayed again after Deputy Attorney General Tariq Jahangiri informed the three-member SC bench headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali that the AG had gone to Quetta, where Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was hearing a case on worsening law and order situation in Balochistan.
During the hearing, Justice Jamali noted that the absence of AG did not matter, as the charges had to be framed by the court and the attorney general had nothing to do with it.
However, Awan’s counsel referred to Rule 7 of the Supreme Court Rules and contended that at the time of framing charges, the attorney general’s presence was required. He said that if the court would prosecute his client without the AG’s presence, it would not leave a good impression. By doing so, Zafar argued, the court would be performing the role of a prosecutor. Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing until April 10.
Babar Awan, along with some other federal ministers, had launched a tirade against the Supreme Court at a press conference held at the Press Information Department (PID) on December 1 last year soon after the court ordered an enquiry into the memo issue.
On March 1, a bench comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Muhammad Ather Saeed had reserved its judgment whether to discharge contempt notice or to frame charges against Awan. “After going through the documentary record and video recording of the press conference prima facie, a case of contempt has been made out against Babar Awan, former law minister and PPP Vice-President, for addressing a press conference at the PID,” the court stated in its order. The court had decided to frame contempt charge and commencing proper contempt proceedings against Babar Awan on March 20.
Talking to media on Monday, Ali Zafar said that his client had not given any remarks, which ridiculed the judiciary. He said the freedom of speech could not be barred in the name of the freedom of judiciary.
