The Supreme Court sentenced on Thursday former federal privatisation minister and Paksitan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Daniyal Aziz for contempt of court “till rising of the court”.
The contempt judgment also leads to automatic disqualification from Parliament for five years and thus Aziz will be unable to contest the upcoming general election.
A contempt sentence of ’till rising of the court’ means the contemnor avoids jail and is punished symbolically until the bench remains in session.
A three-judge bench of the top court had taken suo motu notice of Aziz’s anti-judiciary remarks in February this year.
In its judgment, the court ruled today that Aziz had attempted to malign the court in his media talks and spread hatred in light of Section 2 (b) of Article 204 of the Constitution and found him guilty on the last two of the three charges against him.
The court also ruled that it deliberately showed leniency and did not send Aziz to jail for six months under the law.
As the three-member bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, convened to announce the verdict, Justice Mushir Alam, who was part of the original bench, was given the verdict for reading out.
Justice Alam, however, decided to wait for Aziz before announcing the verdict as the former minister had not arrived in court.
As Aziz later reached the top court, Justice Alam read out the verdict. Aziz stayed in court till the bench was in session, as per the judgment.
Speaking to the media after the verdict, Aziz said his father will contest the July 25 election from his constituency and he will decide the next legal course of action after a copy of the detailed verdict is received.
Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, the original head and member of the bench, were not in Islamabad to take part in the hearing.
Strict security measures were in place in and around the top court of the country in light of the verdict.
