ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has dismissed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Talal Chaudry’s intra-court appeal against his conviction for contempt of court. A five-judge larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard the appeal filed on Tuesday. After a video clip of Chaudry’s apparently contempuous speech was played in the court, the chief justice asked why did the attorney general’s office not file a request for extension in the PML-N leader’s sentence. Chaudry’s lawyer Kamran Murtaza then issued an apology and asked the bench to show leniency. The choice of words by Murtaza in underscoring Chauhdry’s political career was on the line led the discussion on a tangent,. Murtaza had said, “It is a matter of the child’s political career.” Justice Nisar responded by asking, “Is he still a child?” To which Murtaza said, “In front of you, everyone’s a child.” The chief justice questioned, “Do you use such words for your parents.” Justice Ijazul Ahsan reminded the counsel that Chaudry had not issued an apology to date. The chief justice then raised the issue of the Provisional Constitution Order mentioned by Chaudhry in the speech in question. He said, “We will issue notices to those who were listening to his speech. Chaudry kept addressing former premier Nawaz Sharif in his speech and even he did not stop him from contempt of court.” The CJP then addressed Chaudry, and said, “Should I bring the Mian Sb you kept addressing in your speech? Call Mian Sb so he can throw out PCO judges, can he throw us out?” “Which idol had you talked about throwing out of court?” he further questioned. In response, Chaudry said, “Sir, we use the term PCO symbolically.” To this, Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked, “You are not ready to issue an apology even today.” The chief justice then rejected the PML-N leader’s intra-court appeal and asked his counsel to present his arguments on merit. Chaudry’s counsel then requested the court to be lenient, saying that it had always played the role of a bigger person and even accepted Nehal Hashmi’s apology. The chief justice directed the counsel to restrict his arguments to the realm of the law. Referring to Murtaza’s earlier assertion about his client’s political career, he asked how would that be affected. Murtaza responded, “He will not be able to contest in the polls for the next five years.” However, Justice Nisar said that was a punishment. Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Umar Ata Bandial added that a contemptuous speech was delivered in front of a crowd and the insulted was directed at an institution, not a person. On August 2, the Supreme Court had announced its verdict in the contempt of court case against Chaudry finding him guilty of violating Article 204 of the Constitution. Following the conviction, Chaudry was disqualified from holding public office for five years. Published in Daily Times, October 10th 2018.