ISLAMABAD, June 3: A reconstituted three-member bench of the Supreme Court will hear a case against alleged derogatory remarks made by some lawyers about rulers, the military and senior judges during a seminar on May 26 after two members of the bench opted out of it on Sunday.

The judges who have refused to sit on the bench are Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad.

The bench — now comprising Justice Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Shakirullah Jan and Justice Tassaduq Hussain — will hear the case on Monday, Tariq Mehmood, a lawyer of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, told Dawn.

On the other hand, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) supporting the CJ will file a counter contempt petition in the apex court on Monday against President Gen Pervez Musharraf, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim for issuing `derogatory’ statements against the CJ and his supporters.

The lawyer said the statements by the three leaders had been issued in violation of the Supreme Court’s directives. “We will give press clippings regarding derogatory statements of the president and the two chief ministers before the three-member bench along with the counter petition,” he said.

Acting Chief Justice Javed Iqbal on Thursday decided that a five-member bench of the SC would conduct the hearing on the application filed by the interior ministry and a contempt of court petition against the SCBA.

On May 29, the interior ministry had ‘requested’ the Supreme Court to take notice of what it called ‘misbehaviour’ of lawyers and derogatory remarks made against the government departments and senior judges during the seminar also addressed by Justice Chaudhry. The ministry was of the view that the participants of the seminar had violated the SC directives.

An interior ministry spokesman said the Supreme Court had allowed the lawyers community to use its auditorium with the condition that the occasion would not be used for any political speeches or character assassination. SCBA president Munir A. Malik told Dawn that senior lawyer Syed Iqbal Haider would file the petition in the apex court on behalf of the association.