SC finds PML-N’s Daniyal Aziz guilty of contempt

• Former minister sentenced till rising of court, rendering him disqualified to contest polls for five years
• Aziz says his father to contest elections on his behalf

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday found former federal privatisation minister Daniyal Aziz guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him till the rising of the court, which renders him disqualified to contest elections for a period of five years under Article 63 (1) (g) of the Constitution.

According to Article 63 (1) (g) of the Constitution, a person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if­ he has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction…unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release.

After Nehal Hashmi, Daniyal is second Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader who has been convicted in a contempt case.

A three-judge bench of the top court, which had taken suo motu notice of Aziz’s anti-judiciary remarks, heard the proceedings since February this year.

As the three-member bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, convened to announce the verdict, Justice Mushir Alam, who was part of the original bench, was given the verdict for reading out.

Justice Alam, however, decided to wait for Aziz before announcing the verdict as the former minister had not arrived in court.

As Aziz later reached the top court, the court ruled that he committed contempt.

The court also ruled that it deliberately showed leniency and did not send Aziz to jail for six months under the law.

Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, the original head and member of the bench, were not in Islamabad to take part in the hearing.

Following the verdict, Aziz’s legal counsel announced that his client would file a review petition in the Supreme Court. If the verdict gets overturned in review, Aziz may still be able to contest the July 25 general elections from NA-77 (Narowal).

‘FATHER TO CONTEST ELECTIONS IN MY PLACE’:

Speaking outside the court, the former minister said that his father will contest the upcoming general election on his behalf.

“We had prepared for a SC verdict disqualifying me,” Aziz said.

“My father has submitted nomination papers and will contest the election on my behalf,” Aziz— who had been issued a PML-N ticket for NA-77, Narowal-I constituency — declared.

Asking his constituents to not be worried after the apex court verdict, Aziz further said, “Nobody in my family is involved in corruption and my family will not be tainted because of me.”

“There are no corruption charges against me,” he asserted.

Aziz denied ever saying the words for which he was held in contempt. “I never said the words that were written in the newspaper and for which I was held in contempt,” he claimed.

Aziz argued that the contemptuous phrases on whose basis he was held in contempt were censored with a beep when they were aired in news bulletins, which according to Aziz, was akin to him not having said it.

“I have never violated the court’s orders,” he said. “In fact, me and my party have always implemented the court’s orders. To disagree is our right, we have always done that and will keep on doing it.”

PROCEEDINGS:

On February 7, the apex court had issued to Aziz a notice for contempt of court for an “anti-judiciary” speech made by him.

On March 13, the SC had indicted Aziz in the contempt case, although the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. The SC bench had observed that Aziz was “committed to scandalising the court”.

On May 3, the top court had reserved its judgment in the contempt of court case against Aziz. A three-member bench, headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, was hearing the case. The defence counsel, Ali Raza, had contended that his client, Daniyal Aziz, never intended to malign the judiciary, adding that he had just criticised judgments in public.

Raza had stated that the headline appearing in an Urdu daily, which was attributed to him, was denied, and the witness (reporter) had also confirmed that Aziz had not used these words. On the statement aired by private TV channel, he had stated that his client was addressing a private function at the Punjab House in which the TV channel was not allowed for coverage

Raza had said that Aziz was referring to a “script” mentioned by Javed Hashmi in January last year according to which PTI was to topple the PML-N government with the assistance of some elements of the establishment.