ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Friday decided to invite representatives of Pakistan Bar Council, bar bodies and all stakeholders for wider discussion to amend the contempt of court law.
The amendment bill was moved by Senator Farhatullah Babar as a private member’s bill. Explaining the rationale, the mover said its basic purpose was not to seek its immediate adoption but to initiate a wider discussion on the issue. The contempt law should not only protect the dignity of the courts but also that of the litigants, he said. A wider public discourse will help examine whether the existing law needs amendments in the definition of contempt, who is liable to contempt as well as punishments for various acts of contempt.
The dignity of judges must rest more on their conduct and on the nature of their orders rather than on a law that is too wide open in some respects and too restrictive in some others. Glory and majesty of the courts demands that at no stage the judges should appear to have an eye on television sound bites and newspaper headlines while addressing litigants during the proceedings. Judges must be protected by law from any disrespectful and offensive behaviour towards them and this protection should also be available equally to litigants. Explaining the need for broad consultation, he said while later talking to the media that in 2012 the previous government legislated the Contempt of Court Act but it did not have the support of all the parties and was subsequently struck down by the court.
