LAHORE – The Supreme Court of Pakistan has been urged through a constitutional writ petition to strike down the Contempt of Court Law 2012 being ultra vires of the Constitution.
Petitioner’s lawyer Azhar Siddque filed the petition in the Supreme Court Lahore Registry, stating that the former and incumbent prime ministers had publicly said time and again that they would not obey the orders of the Supreme Court and write letter to the Swiss authorities for the reopening of graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
“The Contempt of Court Law 2012 has been passed to save the incumbent prime minister from conviction and subsequent disqualification under contempt charges,” alleged Siddique, adding that when the bill was moved in the National Assembly opposition members observed that it was aimed at tying the hands of the superior judiciary, saving the skin of the incumbent prime minister, and creating confrontation between the parliament and the judiciary.