Contempt case: Daniyal out of race

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday debarred PML-N's former federal minister for privatization Daniyal Aziz from contesting the forthcoming general elections after convicting him in a contempt of court case.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, announced the judgment in a contempt of court case against former federal minister for privatization Daniyal Aziz.

On May 3, the court reserved the judgment in the instant contempt case after the prosecution as well as defence counsel concluded their arguments. The court convicted Daniyal Aziz under Section 5 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003 and sentenced him with imprisonment till the rising of the court.

After being convicted, Daniyal Aziz stood disqualified to contest elections for a period of five years under Article 63(1) (g) of the Constitution. The Article 63(1)(g) of the Constitution reads that a person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if he has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction...unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release.

The 17-page judgment, authored by Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, held that the alleged contemner is guilty of charge to scandalise the court and its judges and bring its authority into hatred, ridicule, disrespect and thereby obstructed, interfered with and prejudiced the process of law and due course of proceedings of the apex court.

“We are satisfied that the contempt committed by the alleged contemner for which he is charged with Charge No ii and iii have been proved to have been committed, which is substantially detrimental to the administration of justice and tantamount to scandalise the court and tends to bring the court and the judges of this court into hatred and ridicule”, the verdict ruled.

The court held that the contemner has made him liable to be committed for contempt of court within the contemplation of Article 204 (2) (b) of the Constitution read with Section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003 (Ordinance V of 2003 punishable under Section 5 of the said Ordinance.

“However, taking a lenient view of the matter, we convict him under Section 5 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003 and sentence him with imprisonment till the rising of the court today,” the court ruled.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had taken suo motu notice and issued contempt notice to Federal Minister for Privatisation Daniyal Aziz for contemptuous speeches against the apex court with special reference to Panama case against the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

On March 13, the court indicted Daniyal Aziz in the contempt case and Justice Mushir Alam, a member of the bench, had read out the charge sheet to Daniyal Aziz for which he pleaded not guilty and said that he will contest the case.

As per the charge sheet, Daniyal Aziz obstructed the court proceedings, and brought hatred and scandal to the court in connection with three statements he delivered last year. The charge sheet further reads that Daniyal Aziz gave controversial statements against Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who is monitoring the Panamagate proceedings. The charge sheet further reads that Daniyal Aziz had alleged that a judge of the Supreme Court had prepared the corruption reference after summoning the Lahore NAB team.

The charge sheet further reads that on December 15, 2017, Daniyal Aziz gave a statement saying that the court giving punishment to Jehnagir Tareeen was meant for saving Imran Khan and his party Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Daniyal Aziz is the second PML-N leader after Nehal Hashmi who has been convicted by the Supreme Court in a contempt case. Soon after the court announced its decision, Daniyal Aziz, while talking to media outside the Supreme Court, said that his party, the PML-N, has accepted the court decisions. However, he said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had revolted against the decisions given by the court.

The PML-N leader also announced that his father will contest from his constituency, NA-77 (Narowal-I). Commenting on the court decision, Daniyal Aziz said that he was acquitted in the first charge, adding when the court highlighted substance of the charge, they ran the video and found that several highlighted words were missing. He further said that the only witness who appeared in court also admitted that he had not expressed contemptuous words but it was the impression he received.