Pak lawyer seeks dismissal of contempt petition against Zardari

A lawyer has approached a court to dismiss a contempt petition pending adjudication against President Asif Ali Zardari for not relinquishing the political office of co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party. In the petition filed in the Lahore High Court yesterday, Afaq Ahmad contended that after a judgment issued by the Supreme Court in a case related to the payment of millions of rupees to politicians by intelligence agencies to rig the 1990 general election, there was no need for further hearings of the contempt petition by the High Court. The apex court had explained the political status of the office of the President in its verdict, Ahmad said. He also pointed out that the parliament never objected to the political office held by the President. [caption id=“attachment_513926” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AP[/caption] Ahmad also objected to the locus standi of the petitioner who had filed the contempt of court petition, saying the petitioner was not an aggrieved party. He asked the High Court to dismiss the contempt petition against Zardari for being non-maintainable. Petitioner Azhar Siddique’s counsel, A K Dogar, who also represents Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, had filed a petition challenging the holding of two offices by Zardari. Dogar claimed that the use of the presidency for partisan political activities by Zardari was not only illegal but amounted to contempt of an order issued by the Lahore High Courtin May last year. In the wake of the apex courts ruling in the case related to the funding of politicians to rig the 1990 polls, pressure has mounted on the President to limit his political activities in the presidency. The apex court said in its ruling that the President should not have a partisan role. PTI