ISLAMABAD, Oct 7 The Supreme Court issued on Wednesday contempt of court notices to 60 superior court judges in accordance with its earlier order holding them in contempt for having taken oath under the Provisional Constitution Order in defiance of a restraining order issued by a seven-judge bench on Nov 3, 2007 — the day former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf declared an emergency in the country.

On Oct 4, a 14-judge bench of the Supreme Court had decided to issue contempt of court notices to those who were judges of the respective high courts on Nov 2 and were appointed from Nov 3 to Dec 15, 2007.

The issuance of contempt notices to the senior judges has become a hotly-debated issue and some legal experts believe that it is a scant precedent because the punishment entails a six-month jail term if a contemner fails to satisfy the court.

The legal fraternity appears to be divided over questions whether judges of the superior judiciary are bound to act on a decision of another judge or a court and could they be issued contempt notices.

The Supreme Court had in the past issued a contempt of court notice to a former judge of the Federal Shariat Court, Shafi Mohammadi, for his outburst against the judiciary, but it did not go forward.

Of the 60 judges to whom contempt notices have been issued, 26 belonged to the Lahore High Court, 20 to the Sindh High Court and 14 to the Peshawar High Court.

A contempt notice has been issued to Justice Syed Zahid Hussain of the Supreme Court for having taken oath as Chief Justice of the LHC and Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court Agha Rafiq as a judge of the Sindh High Court under the PCO.

Judges of the LHC to whom contempt notices have been issued are Justices Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry (retd), Mian Mohammad Najam-uz-Zaman, Maulvi Anwarul Haq, Mian Hamid Farooq (retd), who was removed as judge of the Supreme Court after the July 31 judgment, Mohammad Khalid Alvi, Sakhi Hussain Bokhari, who was sacked as SC judge in consequence of the July 31 judgment, Mohammad Muzamil Khan (retd), the former chief justice of the now defunct Islamabad High Court who was later elevated to the Supreme Court but unseated after the July 31 judgment, Sardar Mohammad Aslam (retd), Sheikh Hakim (retd), who was also unseated as SC judge, former chief justice of the IHC M. Bilal Khan, Sheikh Javaid Sarfraz, Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, Syed Hamid Ali Shah, Syed Sajjad Hussain Shah, Tariq Shamim, Syed Asghar Haider, Hasnat Ahmad Khan, Zubda-tul-Hussain, Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, Khawaja Farooq Saeed, Mohammad Akram Qureshi, Khurshid Anwar Bhindar, Saifur Rehman and S. Ali Hassan Rizvi.

The SHC judges are Former chief justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro, whose removal has been recommended by the Supreme Judicial Council on misconduct, Justices Munib Ahmed Khan, Ms Yasmin Abbasi, Ms Qaiser Iqbal, Azizullah M. Memon, Ali Sain Dino Metlo, Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui, Syed Mahmood Alam Rizvi, Abdur Rehman Faruq Pirzada, Dr Rana M. Shamim, Khawaja Naveed Ahmad, Khalid Ali Z. Qazi, Syed Pir Ali Shah, Bin Yamin, Arshad Noor, Qamar-ud-Din Bora, Ghulam Dastageer Hani, Farrukh Zia Sheikh and Abdul Qadir Khan.

PHC judges are Former chief justice M. Raza Khan, Justices (retd) Ejazul Hassan, Qaim Jan Khan (unseated as SC judge), Mohammad Saleem Khan (retd), Raj Mohammad, Jehanzaib, Said Maroof Khan, Hamid Farooq Durrani, Mohammad Alam Khan, Shahji Rahman Khan (retd), Ghulam Mohy-ud-Din Malik, Yahya Zahid Gillani, Zia-u-Din Khattak and Syed Musadiq H. Gillani.Their case will be taken up on Monday.