- You represent public. We hope you will also respect us. It will be public’s loss by degrading each other: CJP
- Observes lawmakers protected under Article 66 as long as they make speeches in Parliament
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday accepted Senator Faisal Vawda and MQM-P’s Mustafa Kamal’s unconditional apologies in contempt of court case, “cautioned them against any further transgression.”
The Supreme Court (SC) had issued contempt of court notices to independent Senator Faisal Vawda and MQM-Pakistan MNA Mustafa Kamal over their anti-judiciary rhetoric. Senator Faisal Vawda on June 26 tendered an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in contempt of court case.
On Friday at the outset of the hearing, Barrister Naseem informed the court that Kamal had expressed regret on his press conference.
CJP Isa then asked Vawda if he had tendered an apology, to which he replied in the affirmative.
Here, Justice Isa asked Siddiqui about his client’s whereabouts, to which he replied that he was appearing on behalf of 26 TV channels.
“None of your clients have submitted a response yet,” Justice Isa remarked. “Not even a single media [channel] has submitted a written response,” the top judge said.
To this, Advocate Siddiqui responded that a show-cause notice had not been issued to any media organisation. “Do you want [us] to issue a show-cause notice to them?” Justice Isa asked.
Here, Justice Abbasi remarked that a response signed by a responsible officer of the media organisations should have been submitted. The CJP observed that the channels had not implemented the court orders, at which Siddiqui stated that their representatives were present in the court.
CJP reiterated that no written response had been filed while the counsel maintained that he had submitted the same, at which the former then highlighted that the reply did not have the signatures of any media official.
“The reply is signed by the lawyers and not by the channels. It is compulsory in contempt of court cases for the channels’ signature to be there,” Justice Isa remarked.
However, Siddiqui argued saying that if a show-cause notice had been issued, then the reply would have been submitted with the channels’ signatures.
“Do you not like the Constitution?” Justice Isa quipped, adding that he presumed the advocate would begin his arguments by speaking about the Constitution.
“If someone labels a person a thief, and the media says it has only reported on it, is that correct?” Justice Isa questioned. “Should such free media be allowed or not?” he wondered.
“Freedom of press and freedom of expression are two different things,” the chief justice remarked.
When Vawda and Kamal came to the rostrum, CJP Isa told them: “You represent the public. We hope you will also respect us. It will be the public’s loss by degrading each other.”
He stressed that the status of lawmakers was much higher than common citizens and told them they had to be cautious.
“We will not take the matter further but will tell you to be careful in the future,” Justice Isa said.
To this, Vawda replied he respected the judiciary and said he wanted to inform the court of the “pain” he was going through as he was “being called a ‘proxy’ which was also reported in Indian media”.
The top judge remarked, “Maybe this wouldn’t have escalated if you wouldn’t have said those things.”
He emphasised that the nation had its eyes on MNAs and on him as well since the was the CJP.
The chief justice observed that lawmakers were protected under Article 66 as long as they made speeches in the Parliament but not for things said outside it.
Kamal then started speaking about interest and the Quranic verses on riba — a topic he had talked on during his press conference — but was soon stopped by Justice Isa as a judge of the SC’s shariat appellate bench was no more alive.
Vawda submitted a new response to the court, stating that he leaves himself at the mercy of the Supreme Court. Senator Faisal Vawda in his earlier response refused to tender an unconditional apology to Supreme Court over a contempt of court notice.
“The press conference was not aimed at insulting the judiciary and it was meant for the betterment of the country,” Faisal Vawda said in his first reply to the court. It is important to mention here that the apex took suo moto notice of press conferences held by Senator Faisal Vawda and Kamal wherein they demanded evidence of interference in the judiciary.
The top court then issued notices to both leaders and asked them to submit their response before the court. Where Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Mustafa Kamal tendered an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court for his remarks against the judiciary in the same case.
In a presser, Senator Faisal Vawda criticized the Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges. “15 days have passed but no details were shared by the IHC judges to support the claims of alleged interference,” the Senator said in response to the IHC judges’ letter, alleging interference in the judicial affairs by the security agencies.
“Accusing someone will not work, the evidence will have to be given in the court,” Faisal Vawda said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday. The former federal minister asked the IHC judge Babar Sattar to bring evidence of interference and. He also demanded the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to interfere in this matter.
