ISLAMABAD, May 22: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain, who had narrowly escaped a contempt of court notice on Jan 7, was arraigned in the Supreme Court on Wednesday for his May 11 statement in which a petitioner alleges he asked for separating Karachi from the country.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, asked Barrister Zafarullah of the Watan Party to inquire from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) whether Mr Hussain or Dr Farooq Sattar was officially leading the MQM.

Through a petition Barrister Zafarullah had alleged that in an address over phone from London to his party’s leaders and workers at Nine Zero on May 11 night, Mr Hussain, a British national, had demanded secession of Karachi from the country.

After the preliminary hearing, the court gave the petitioner a week to ascertain whether Mr Hussain was elected head of the MQM, registered with the ECP under the Political Parties Order 2002.

“The court has to take every precaution while proceeding in such cases and the petitioner has to inform the court whether Altaf Hussain is the elected head of the registered MQM and, if not, who is the elected head of the party,” the bench said. It directed the petitioner to furnish the actual address of Altaf Hussain in case he was not elected head of the MQM.

In his petition, Barrister Zafarullah requested the court to declare Altaf Hussain an enemy of Pakistan, ban his telephonic addresses from London and proscribe the MQM as a political party.

He made Altaf Hussain, the MQM secretary general, ECP, law secretary and Pemra as respondents and said the court should take serious notice of Mr Hussain’s May 11 speech.

Barrister Zafarullah said “all collaborators” of Altaf Hussain should be punished under the High Treason (Punishment) Act 1973 and the MQM chief should be brought to Pakistan through Interpol for trial of murder cases registered against him in which he had been declared an absconder since 1990.