Faisal Vawda, Mustafa Kamal summoned in contempt case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan summoned Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Deputy Convener Syed Mustafa Kamal and independent Senator Faisal Vawda in contempt of court case, ARY News reported.

The SC issued a written order of Thursday’s hearing, maintaining that Syed Mustafa tendered an unconditional apology and left himself at the mercy of the court.

The order said that Faisal Vawda’s counsel sought time to submit an additional reply while the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) submitted the transcript of the press conferences held by both parliamentarians.

The apex court in its order maintained that Faisal Vawda’s press conference was broadcast by 34 news channels and while Syed Mustafa Kamal’s press conference by 28 news channels.

“In Prima facie, broadcasting such press conferences falls under the contempt of court,” the order read.

The apex court also sought replies from the news channels and asked as to why contempt of court action should not be taken against them.

It is pertinent to mention here that the SC rejected the unconditional apology tendered by Syed Mustafa Kamal while Faisal Vawda refused to apologies.

READ: Mustafa Kamal tenders apology in contempt case

The Supreme Court (SC) had issued contempt of court notices to independent Senator Faisal Vawda and MQM-Pakistan MNA Mustafa Kamal over anti-judiciary rhetoric.

The apex took suo moto notice of press conferences held by Senator Faisal Vawda and Kamal wherein they demanded evidence of interference in the judiciary.

The top court then issued notices to both leaders and asked them to submit their response before the court.

Vawda, Kamal Presser

In a presser, Senator Faisal Vawda criticized the Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges. “15 days have passed but no details were shared by the IHC judges to support the claims of alleged interference,” the Senator said in response to the IHC judges’ letter, alleging interference in the judicial affairs by the security agencies.

“Accusing someone will not work, the evidence will have to be given in the court,” Fasisal Vawda said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The former federal minister asked the IHC judge Babar Sattar to bring evidence of interference and. He also demanded the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to interfere in this matter.

He was of the view that the country should be protected from external and internal conspiracies, adding that process of targeting state institutions should be stopped.

A day after Vawda’s presser, Kamal also addressed a press wherein he demanded the implementation of dual citizenship law across all institutions of the country.