ISLAMABAD, April 11: The Supreme Court on Wednesday framed amended charges against senior administration and police officers of Islamabad for committing contempt of the court by roughing up Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to prevent him from walking towards the apex court for the hearing of the reference against him by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
The amended charges were framed when Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan told a three-judge bench that the Contempt of the Court Act 1976 under which the officers had been indicted during the last hearing could not be invoked in the case.
He said the Contempt of the Court Ordinance V of 2003 applied to the matter, which was protected under Article 270A of the Constitution when the 17th Amendment was adopted by parliament.
The bench comprising acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Justice Nasirul Mulk has taken up the report of inquiry into the incident by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan of the Peshawar High Court.
The attorney-general argued that the ordinance defined contempt in three categories -- civil, criminal and judicial -- and suggested imprisonment of up to six months, a fine up to Rs100,000 or both.
The alleged contemners tendered unqualified apology before the Supreme Court in their written replies, stating that they had the greatest respect for the institution. But they did not accept that they had manhandled the chief justice.
The amended charges state: “That you on March 13, 2007, in the afternoon, by grossly manhandling honourable Mr Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice of Pakistan, and by acts of omission and commission, brought into disrepute and ridicule the authority of this court and grossly interfered with the course of administration of justice by acting in a highly contemptuous and disrespectful manner to the honourable justice and, thereby, committed contempt of this court, punishable under Sections 3 and 5 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance V of 2003 read with Article 204 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973.”
The seven officials facing the charge are: Islamabad Chief Commissioner Khalid Pervaiz, Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ali, Inspector-General of Police Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmad, Senior Superintendent of Police Zafar Iqbal, Deputy Superintendent of Police Jamil Hashmi, Secretariat Station House Officer Rukhsar Mehdi and Assistant Sub-Inspector Siraj Ahmad, a security guard of the IG.
The bench decided to take up the matter again on April 25.
