Supreme Court of Pakistan. — Photo by AP

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday resumed the hearing of the contempt of court case against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, DawnNews reported.

A seven-member bench led by Justice Nasirul Mulk is hearing the case.

The newly appointed Attorney General of Pakistan, Irfan Qadir was also present in the court.

Qadir was permitted by the court to act as a prosecutor in the case while being given two days to start his arguments.

While presenting his evidence, the prime minister's counsel Aitzaz Ahsan informed the court that he was being harassed by a particular media group and was being accused of lying. He said that misreported news was being published by that particular media group.

Ahsan asked the court to provide him with security in regards to this situation.

Aitzaz Ahsan while talking to media representatives outside the Supreme Court said that it was unfortunate that sections of the media were misreporting his words and the court's proceedings.

On April 12, Aitzaz Ahsan had said that although many people disliked President Asif Ali Zardari, he was still an elected leader and hence could not be presented before any court of law.

Ahsan had also argued that under Article 10-A of the constitution, the sitting bench was not eligible to hear the case.

Earlier, Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk said to Ahsan that if a convincing argument for presidential immunity was established, there would be no need to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the prime minister.

Moreover, Justice Ejaz Afzal had said that the letter to the Swiss authorities should have been written and the issue of immunity would have come later.

The premier’s counsel had told the bench that the president enjoyed immunity from prosecution both inside and outside Pakistan. He further said that while there was no harm in writing the letter to the Swiss authorities, not writing the letter was not tantamount to committing contempt of court.