KARACHI, Jan 27: The Sindh High Court on Thursday asked the Chairman of the Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees, Justice (retd) Javed Nawaz Gandapur, to show cause on Feb 22 why he should not be proceeded against for contempt of court.

The notice was issued by a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Maqbool Baqar, on an application moved by the Pakistan Herald Publications Ltd and other newspaper groups.

The bench also suspended the respondent chairman's order for payment of costs by the Jang Group and bailable warrants issued against an executive of Nawa-i-Waqt. Appearing for the PHPL, Advocate Abdul Hafeez Pirzada submitted that the chairman was restrained from proceeding with cases against the PHPL in a writ petition, subsequently joined by other newspaper groups.

The counsel argued that the chairman continued to hold proceedings against the petitioners despite the restraint order. He used harsh language and made threatening statements. He went to the extent of passing adverse orders in gross violation of the court order.