PESHAWAR – Justice Jehanzaib Rahim, a dysfunctional judge of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), on Thursday issued a show-cause notice to the larger bench of the Supreme Court, scheduled to hear contempt proceedings against eight PCO judges, including him on February 21, to appear before his court also on February 21, to explain the grounds for serving him the contempt of court notice.
Legal experts say the show-cause notice issued by Justice Rahim did not have any legal or moral value, adding that Justice Rahim’s move made it yet another case fit for contempt of court proceedings against him. On February 2, the SC had decided to frame contempt charges against eight PCO judges under Article 204 of the constitution and the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003, for flouting and disregarding its restraint order by taking oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO).
“The larger bench, being not above the law and the constitution, has not only committed its own contempt but also of the high court, a functionary established under the constitution, by eroding its authority and humiliating its judges”, the order passed and faxed to the media outlets by the dysfunctional judge said.
The order said there was sufficient material to issue show-cause notice to Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez, who decided to frame contempt charges against PCO judges on February 21, to appear in the preliminary hearing before him on February 21 to explain and justify why a date should not be fixed for framing charges against them,” the order said.
“The order directs the attorney general for Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general to appear before him on the same day,” adding, “A copy of the order shall also be sent to the president of Pakistan to initiate proceedings before the Supreme Judicial Council against the judges mentioned in the order, for reasons given above.”
