SC serves contempt notice to Altaf Hussain
MQM chief Altaf Hussain will have to appear personally before the apex court on January 7.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has served a contempt notice to Mutahhida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain over his recent telephonic address to his party workers in Karachi.
A three-member bench of the apex court, chaired by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, issued the contempt of court notice under Article 204 of the Constitution and Section 3 of the Contempt of Court law.
The court directed PEMRA to provide a transcript of the MQM chief s telephonic address.
The chief justice remarked that the speech delivered by Altaf Hussain following the delimitation order was not only contemptuous but also held a note of threat.
During his address over SC ruling on delimitation of new constituencies in Karachi on December 2, Altaf Hussain called the court’s remarks unconstitutional and undemocratic , adding that the Supreme Court does not have the authority to say that constituencies should be formed in such a way that a single-party majority does not exist.
The MQM, which is the ruling party in Karachi, has several constituencies that are considered to be key strongholds.
During his address, Hussain also claimed the observation was a well thought out plan to break the MQM’s majority mandate and speculated that this would spark ethnic discord.
