Pakistan Supreme Court Affirms Right to Preliminary Hearing in Contempt Cases

Supreme Court affirms right to preliminary hearing before framing of contempt charge

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has affirmed that in contempt of court matters, the concerned court must provide an alleged contemnor an opportunity for a preliminary hearing before taking cognisance or fixing a date for framing charges against him. Only after being duly satisfied that a prima facie case exists may the court fix a date for hearing to frame the contempt charge in open court and then proceed to decide the matter, observed Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar in a judgement he authored. Jus...

By [email protected] (Nasir Iqbal)