In a detailed verdict issued on Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has observed that a judge of the Supreme Court or a high court cannot initiate contempt of court proceedings against a fellow judge from the same court. This observation was made in a case concerning contempt proceedings against Additional Registrar (Judicial) Nazar Abbas, which had been initiated by three Supreme Court judges. The original case involved the jurisdiction of regular benches to determine the constitutionality of Article 191A of the Constitution.
The verdict, authored by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, stated that according to sub-article (5) of Article 199 of the Constitution, Supreme Court and High Court judges are granted immunity for acts performed in their judicial and administrative capacities. The court further clarified that this constitutional immunity is in place to secure the independence of the judiciary, which is a key command of Article 2A of the Constitution.
The ruling emphasized, “If a judge of the superior court cannot issue a writ to another judge of the same court, how can a judge be given power to issue a direction or initiate proceedings under Article 204-2 [contempt of court] of the Constitution against a sitting judge of the same court?” The detailed order noted that this protection is not absolute and does not shield judges from the consequences of misconduct, which falls under judicial administration or discipline.
The court stated that allegations of misconduct against superior court judges can only be dealt with under Article 209, which outlines the powers of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). The verdict highlighted that “Sub-article (7) of Article 209 of the Constitution bars any other forum from inquiring into matters of misconduct against a judge of the Supreme Court or of a high court.”
The order concluded that allowing judges to initiate contempt proceedings against each other would “militate against the necessity of maintaining a high degree of comity amongst them.” It warned that such actions would “create internal conflicts, grievances and grudges,” leading to “anarchy” and the collapse of the justice system, which would erode public trust.
The contempt notice against Nazar Abbas had been withdrawn by Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi on January 27. The matter was referred to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi to determine if a full court was needed to decide whether contempt proceedings were required against two committees of the apex court. On the same day, a six-member bench disposed of Abbas’s intra-court appeal to quash the contempt proceedings initiated by the two-judge bench.
