ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to Masood ur Rehman General Secretary of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in PS-114 over objectionable and inappropriate utterances against Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed.
A four-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the contempt of court case.
During the course of proceedings, the bench observed that Masood ur Rehman Abbasi used sarcastic and rude remarks against the Chief Justice.
Justice Bandial asked the Additional Attorney General whether he had heard Masood ur Rehman Abbasi’s speech that went viral on social media?
The Additional Attorney General said that he had heard about the video but he could not watch it.
Justice Bandial said that apparently, Abbasi had committed contempt of court. Such remarks about the Chief Justice were a violation of Pakistan’s constitution and law, he added.
Justice Bandial asked the Sindh government to ensure compliance with the notice of reasons.
He said that Masood ur Rehman used highly derogatory words against the chief justice.
Justice Ijaz, a member of the bench, said that the speech was made in a very angry tone against the chief justice.
The Additional Attorney General said that hate speech fell under the jurisdiction of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), therefore a notice should also be issued to the agency.
The court ordered the FIA and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to compile and submit the objectionable material and also ordered the Sindh inspector-general of police to ensure Abbasi’s presence during the next hearing.
The court also issued notices to the attorney general for Pakistan, Sindh government and adjourned the hearing till Monday.