Political activities: President given opportunity to dissuade his office

A full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) here on Wednesday gave President Asif Ali Zardari an opportunity to disassociate his office from political activities in light of an earlier order of the LHC. The CJ adjourned the hearing till September 05 and observed that the court would pass an appropriate order if the president failed to implement the court orders till next date of hearing.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial gave the opportunity while hearing petitions seeking contempt of court proceedings against the president for not giving up political activities for his party. The chief justice remarked that although the LHC bench in its May 12 order had expressed an expectation that the president would relinquish political activities, it did not mean that the court's order was to be ignored.
Earlier, a three-member bench resumed the hearing of the contempt petition and expressed dismay over non-appearance of federal law officers. "This is regrettable that the law officers do not come to assist the courts," the CJ remarked. An additional attorney general, Abdul Hayee Gillani, told the bench that no notice was served on the government authorities, adding that he had come to know through media about the court proceedings. He also said the court should defer the proceedings till a notice was not received by the government. However, the bench turned down his request and asked petitioner's counsel AK Dogar to continue his arguments.
Dogar argued that the full bench on May 12, 2011 had declared the holding of political office by President Zardari and subsequent political activities in presidency unconstitutional. But, he said, the President had not given up his political office nor disassociated him from political activities. Chief Justice told the counsel that the President enjoyed immunity under article 248 of the Constitutional. The counsel responded that the instant cases pertained to civil nature contempt and the court was to get its order implemented.
The CJ observed that the court like to give "a considerable time" to the president for the implementation of the previous order and adjourned hearing till September 05. The court directed attorney general's office to convey the order to president. In May 12, 2011 judgement on president's dual office, the bench headed by the then chief justice, Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, ruled that the use of presidency for political activity was inconsistent with the sanctity, dignity, neutrality and independence of the presidency. "Therefore, it is expected that the President of Pakistan would cease the use of the premises of presidency for political meetings of his party," the bench had written in its judgement.