ISLAMABAD: The decision of a high court bench to oust former Azad Jammu Kashmir prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas has been termed unfair by legal experts, who said the court could have asked the PTI leader for an explanation through a show-cause notice first, instead of disqualifying him on contempt.

Mr Illyas, who had criticised the court decisions during a gathering in Islamabad, was disqualified by the high court that refused to accept his unconditional apology. He has been allowed to contest this decision in the AJK Supreme Court, however.

In a comment on the ruling, lawyer Reema Omer said, “AJK High Court’s judgement convicting PM Tanveer Ilyas of contempt of court and disqualifying him from public office for 2 years is a joke. Criticism of how courts function + their judgments shouldn’t even be prohibited speech, let alone ground to disqualify public office holders.”

Lawyers say criticism of courts’ performance should not be consideredc ontemptuous

She said that contempt should be limited to “civil contempt (disobedience of court orders) and criminal contempt (threats etc with intention to obstruct justice)”.

“Derogatory or scandalous language should be tolerated. Here, Tanveer Ilyas apologised also. Disqualification is excessive,” she added.

Senior lawyer Raja Inam Ameen Minhas disagreed. He said that apparently the former AJK premier “undermined the judiciary for which he has been penalised”.

Mr Minhas added that undermining the judiciary changes the fabric of the entire system and promotes lawlessness in society.

Similarly, Abdul Moiz Jaferii, while speaking during a TV show on Dunya News, said the court should have dropped the case against Mr Illyas after he tendered an unconditional apology.

In a reference to former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s disqualification over contempt, Mr Jaferri said the PPP leader was disqualified in a case of ‘judicial contempt’ because he refused to comply with the court orders. Whereas Tallal Chaudhry and Nehal Hashmi were convicted for contempt because they “threatened” the judges, he said.

Speaking on Hamid Mir’s show at Geo News, Barrister Zafarullah, a PML-N leader, said Mr Illyas had not committed contempt of court. “This is a zero case of contempt,” he said, calling the decision ‘injustice’. He made this comment after Hamid Mir played an audio clip of the PTI leader wherein he was criticising the judges.

On the same show, Supreme Court Bar Association President Abid Zuberi said the former premier should have been issued a show cause notice.

After the notice, he would have been tried in court for his offence before the award of the sentence, he said, adding that such is the law in Pakistan.

Hina Jillani, while talking about the disqualification, said it was up to the courts to decide what constitutes contempt.

She, however, argued that instead of a knee-jerk response, the court could have shown restraint.

She added that speeches that criticise the performance of the court must not be considered contemptuous.

Zaki Abbas in Islamabad also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2023