KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday issued notices to Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon over what a petitioner claimed to be statements deriding the judiciary.

Rana Faizul Hasan, a civil rights campaigner and secretary general of the United Human Rights of Pakistan, had filed a petition in the SHC claiming that the provincial minister uttered derogatory words on the floor of the Sindh Assembly on November 14 ridiculing the lower courts in Karachi.

“(Sharjeel Memon) had said that the police risk their lives to catch criminals, but the judges set them free. Such statements ridiculing the judiciary are violations of Article 204 and 58 of the Constitution of Pakistan,” Hasan told Dawn.com.

He further claimed that the minister had committed contempt of court and that he should be disqualified as a member of the provincial assembly.

The petitioner has also named as respondents Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani, arguing that it is the Speaker’s responsibility to ensure such statements are not uttered on the floor of the assembly.

After hearing initial arguments, the court issued notices to all respondents asking them to appear in court on December 16.