By: Kainat Saif
The contempt generally means disrespect and disobedience, and contempt of court is usually just called as contempt. However, specifically contempt of court is the offense of being disobedient to or disrespectful and defiant toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or goes against the authority, justice and dignity of the court.
Chapter 4, Article 204 of Constitution Of Pakistan 1973, suggests that supreme court or high courts as a court and describe the power of courts. This article defines that the court has the authority to punish anyone who tries to disrespect the court or its officers in any regard – verbally or written both. Nevertheless Article 13 advocates for freedom of speech but it restricts anything said or done in contempt of court. Article 185 (c) while explaining jurisdiction maintained if any person is charged with contempt of high court, the supreme court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals.
Pakistan Penal Code 1860, further elaborates in its section 124 if anyone tries to bring hatred or contempt Public offices shall be punished with imprisonment for life to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.
In addition, there is an ordinance Contempt of Court Ordinance 1998, this ordinance is to regulate the exercise of the powers of courts to punish for contempt of court. In Article 2 of this ordinance every kind of contempt is discussed in detail. Article 3 and 4 talks about jurisdiction and punishments respectively. To know the procedure one shall look into article 19. This Ordinance X of 1998 is the complete guide to understand and proceed with contempt litigation.
Some of the incidents or court verdicts on contempt of courts are mentioned below;
On 2nd august 2018, the SC had held Talal Chaudhry in contempt of court for his derogatory speech at a PML-N rally in Jarranwala, where he had said: “There was an era when the Kaabah was full of idols. Today, the judiciary, which is the country’s highest institution, is also full of PCO [Provisional Constitution Order] idols.”
He had been punished till the rising of the court, which disqualified him from contesting elections for five years, and fined Rs 100,000. One shall bear this in mind that there are serious repercussions for contempt of court.
In an another insistence, A petition seeking a contempt of court case against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on sep 2018.
The petition stated that the former interior minister’s “anti-judiciary remarks” on the suspension of former premier Nawaz Sharif’s jail sentence fell within the ambit of the contempt of court.
It further states that a bench of the high court had earlier discharged a contempt of court notice against Iqbal while instructing him to remain cautious in this regard in the future; however, he ignored the warning.
And then, a full bench of LHC had dismissed a contempt of court notice issued to Iqbal over an anti-judiciary speech after accepting his apology. In this case, we can see court most of the times work on the principle of ‘To err is human to forgive is divine’
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on 21st september 2020 reserved its judgment on maintainability of petition seeking contempt of court proceeding against Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed.
Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb conducted a hearing on a petition filed by a local transport company against the minister. The petitioner’s lawyer Arif Chaudhry adopted the stance that the court had ordered to fully implement the National Highways Safety Ordinance 2000 but the court orders were not fully complied. He prayed the court to initiate a contempt of court proceeding against the minister. Justice Aurangzeb observed that this case should be heard by another bench as this was related to his court’s previous judgment.
The lawyer pleaded that this court should hear his case as it was related to its decision. Secretary Ministry of Communications, Chairman, National Highway Authority (NHA) and IG motorways were also named as respondents in the case.
Later the bench reserved its decision on maintainability of the case.
This clearly suggests that not complying with the laws are also considered as contempt of court.
Moreover, a lower court last year in its interim order stated that chewing bubble gum in court also accounts to contempt of court. This was an interesting decree to let people know not only anti-judiciary remarks either written or verbal (defamatory statements) are counted as contempt but also if someone does not maintain decorum of the court that person is liable. It is to mention obeying courts verdicts are important or crucial in order to maintain rule of law and justice. Hence people shall take into consideration that to respect judiciary plays a significant role in strengthening the system.
The writer is an activist and law student, she can be reached at [email protected]