ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court was moved on Saturday to initiate contempt of court proceedings against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for heaping scorn on the judges of the Supreme Court for disqualifying him in the Panamagate case.
Advocate Makhdom Niaz and Abrar Raza petitioned the high court, naming Nawaz Sharif, federal information secretary, chairman Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) as respondents in the petition.
The petitioners submitted that Nawaz Sharif had constantly been criticizing the Supreme Court judges, which not only constituted contempt of the court but also violated the constitution.
Sharif bent on endangering the democratic system, they said while pleading the court to restrain him from criticizing the judiciary and PEMRA from airing his contemptuous speeches. The petitioner pleaded to the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the former prime minister for his anti-judiciary rhetoric.
Earlier, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had barred PEMRA from airing anti-judiciary speeches of the Sharif brothers -Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif – and sixteen other members of the Parliament.
Nawaz Sharif, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court last month after string of corruption charges, and his party leaders have been quite vocal against the court and judges in their speeches in recent public gatherings.
According to the LHC order, Pemra must ensure that no statement of Sharif brothers and PML-N ministers, including Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif and Railways Minister Saad Rafique, targeting judiciary be aired.
The other PML-N leaders barred by the court from airing their anti-judiciary statements are Daniyal Aziz, Talal Chaudhry, Pervaiz Rasheed, Marriyum Orangzeb, Abid Sher Ali, Rana Sanaullah, Maiza Hameed, Ahsan Iqbal, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Asif Kirmani.
The court also sought reply from the chairman Pemra and its Council of Complaint in this regard.
The court issued such directions on the petition filed by petitioner Amina Malik against Sharif family and the PML-N ministers for their frequent diatribes against judiciary after Sharif’s ouster.
