ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court said that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja should be present before the Court in contempt petition.
During the proceeding, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail inquired “where is the alleged contemnor?”
CEC lawyer, Sajeel Sheryar Swati, informed that the notices were issued to the respondents, adding his client is required to be present before the Court after the issuance of show-cause notice to him.
Justice Mandokhail, while reprimanding the counsel, said: “Don’t tell us what we have to do.”
He further said that this is a criminal matter (contempt), wherein, the accused has to appear before the Court.
A 11-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, and comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan, Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, on Wednesday, heard the review petition of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, on May 6, objected to accepting the petitions and stated they will write their notes and give reasons regarding the matter.
Hearing the petitions, Justice Amin said a 13-member bench was constituted for hearing of review petitions, but since both the judges had decided to write their own opinion and not to be part of the bench; therefore, now an 11-judge bench will hear the petitions. He, however, said both the judges’ opinion would be included in the final verdict of this case.
The bench decided to detach the contempt from the instant case, and another bench will now take up the contempt petition, as they do not want the right of appeal of any party to be affected. He said the contempt matter will be placed before the judges’ committee of the constitutional bench, and if there will be need then it would be referred to the Committee under the Act.
PTI lawyer Salman Akram Raja pleaded to refer the contempt matter to a Committee formed under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure), Act. He also requested the bench to fix the contempt petition next week and hear review petitions against the SC judgment on reserved seats later on.
At the onset of the proceeding, Hamid Khan, another PTI lawyer, apprised the bench that Faisal Siddiqui, main counsel of the respondent, due to flight cancellation could not appear before the bench. He requested to adjourn the case for three to four weeks as there is a state of emergency in the country, adding besides flights cancellation the roads are also closed.
However, Justice Amin turned down his request and adjourned the case until next Tuesday (May 13).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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