Summary Court rejected Defence Secretary's apology.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - The Supreme Court of Pakistan today (Friday) decided to indict the Defence Secretary for contempt of court on November 4 after he failed to comply with court orders.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was hearing a contempt of court case against Defence Secretary Lt. General (retd) Asif Yasin Malik pertaining to local government elections in all 43 cantonment boards.
The show cause notice to the defence secretary had been issued under Article 204 of the Constitution read with Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003.
On October 22, Yasin Malik submitted an unconditional apology to apex court and sought more time to hold the elections.
While rejecting the apology, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said the responsibility for the delay in holding elections lies with the defence secretary.
Attorney General Munir A Malik argued that although the court’s order was violated, the delay in holding elections was in part due to amendments in electoral laws.
The chief justice said that the defence secretary should then have thought twice before misleading the court by recording such an undertaking. He said that such a violation of the court’s directives could not be ignored.
