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SC declares Contempt of Court Act unconstitutional

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Friday declared controversial Contempt of Court  Act 2012 unconstitutional and  void.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry  in a short order declared that most of the clauses of Contempt of Court Act 2012 are violating the constitutional. The new law was aimed to cut the powers of the Supreme Court.

The order says that the law has been declared as unconstitutional  with effect from July 12. This law does not exist, the order said. 

 Click for short order of SC

Earlier today, the court had reserved its verdict after concluding the hearing of petitions.

A five-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and including Justice Shakirullah Jan, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Jawad S Khawaja and Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jilani, heard 27 identical petitions challenging the Contempt of Court Act, 2012.

During the hearing, Attorney General Irfan Qadir  said he had utmost respect for the court and that the court “should not be displeased”.

The attorney general moreover said that he could not afford to divert “even an inch away” from the Constitution.

Upon which, Justice Khawaja said: “You end up moving two to three inches away from the Constitution”.“No, I have not moved away from the Constitution to even a centimetre,” Qadir said.Moreover, Justice Khilji said the new law failed to mention several terms pertaining to contempt of court.To which, the attorney general said that if the new law was viewed in mathematical terms it would get complicated.

Justice Khilji said the terms of ridicule, scandalisation and contempt of court were not present in many sections of the law.

Responding to which, Qadir said: “It does not make a difference and the essence of the contempt remains in the new law.” He added: “Through the new law, the horizon of contempt of court has, in fact, been broadened.” Chief Justice Iftikhar said that a law could not broaden a concept addressed in the Constitution, adding that, the new law even included magistrates in the definition of a judge.

The attorney general said he had worked with a number of judges and that he had been told that a judge was a judge, even if it he/she was a magistrate. In his remarks, Justice Khawaja inquired as to why the former prime minister did not file an appeal against his conviction.

Upon which, the attorney general said that Yousuf Raza Gilani made the right decision by not filing the appeal.