Cont

emptofcour
t
Cont
“ emptofcour
tisanactofdi
srespect
ingordi
sobey
ingacour
tori
nter
fer
ing
wi
thi
tsduepr
ocess.
”

I
nsi mplewor dswecansayCont emptofcour ti sanyactofdi srespector
di
sobediencei n courtthatusual
lyr esult
si n apenal tysuch asaf i
neorev en
i
mpr i
sonment .Beingchargedwit
hcont emptofcour ti
ssomet hingthatcanhappen
duri
ngcour tproceedingsorbeforeacour ti
fsomeonef ai
l
st ocompl ywi t
hcourt
order
s.Ther ei s no formalpenaltyf orcont emptofcour t,meaning t hatthe
consequences f or cont empt of cour t ar e det ermi
ned at t he j udge'
s
di
screti
on.Contemptofcour ti
sav i
olati
onoft hel aw commi t
tedbyaper sonwho
di
sobeysaj udgeorot her
wisedi
sruptsacour tprocessinacour t
room.

 Ty
pesofcont
empt

Thet
womai
ncat
egor
iesofcont
emptofcour
tar
e:

1.cr
imi
nalcont
empti
s when a per
son behav
es i
n a mannert
hatdef
ies t
he
author it
yofthecour t.I
t 
includesanyactorpubl
icat
ionwhich:
(i
)'scandal i
ses'thecourt
,
(i
i
)pr ejudicesanyjudici
alpr
oceedi ng,
(i
i
i)interfereswiththeadmini
strationofj
ust
iceinanyothermanner.
2. ci vilcontempti swhensomeonebehav esinadisobedientmannert
owar
dst
he
cour
t.I
nbot hcases, contemptofcour tcanbepuni shedasacr i
minaloff
ense.
Punishmentf orcontemptofcour
t
Any per son who commi ts cont
empt of court shal
l be punished
wit
h imprisonmentwhi chmayextendtosixmonthssi
mpleimpri
sonment
,orwith
fi
newhi chmayext endtoonehundredt
housandr
upees,
orwit
hboth.
j
our
nal
ist
scancommi
tcont
empti
nthef
oll
owi
ngway
s:
•Journali
st scancommi tcont emptof" objectiver esponsi
bil
it
y "i
nav ari
etyofways,
i
ncluding:
•askt hejuroraboutthepr oceedi ngs-whyt heyr eachedtheirdecisi
on.
•reporti
ngacasewher erestr
ictionsundersect ion4. 2(t
empor ary
)apply
•discl
osur eofthedef endant'
si dentit
yifprotectedbyasect i
on11( anonymity
)order
(f
orlif
eunl essrevoked)
•fail
uretopr ovi
deabal ancedr epor tonthepr oceedings.
•announci ngmat t
ersbef orethecour twhent hej urywasnotpr esent.

Bel
owar
eexampl
esofj
our
nal
ist
swhoi
ssuedcont
emptnot
ices:

 AnsarAbbasisi mplyfi
ledanar t
icle,publi
shedonNov ember15,i nwhichhe
reveal
edast atementt akenunderoat hbyaf or
merChi efJudgeofGi l
git-
Balti
stan,RanaShami m.
“TheIslamabadHi ghCour tor dertof r
amecont emptchar gesagai nstJangGr oup
Edit
or-
in-ChiefMi rShakil
-ur
-Rahman,Edi torofTheNewsI nter
nationalAamirGhaur i
andEdi torInvesti
gati
onsAnsarAbbasimakesnosenseast hesemedi apersons
madenocr i
mebyr eporti
ngt heaf f
idavitwhichexistsandconf irmedbyi tsauthor
befor
et hehonour abl
echi efjusticeoft heIslamabadHi ghCour t
,”IqbalKhattak,
Executi
veDir
ectorofmedi
awat chdogFr
eedom Net
wor
k,sai
dWednesdayi
nPr
ess
Freedom Al
erti
ssuedon29December2021.

 TheSupr emeCour tonWednesdayi ssuedacontemptofcour tnoticeto

j
ournali
stMat i
ull
ahJanoveranall
egedtweetagai
nstjudgesandjudiciar
y.A
thr
ee-memberbenchoftheapexcourtheadedbyChiefJusti
ceGulzarAhmed
andcompr i
singJust
iceI
jaz
ulAhsanandJusticeMazharAlam KhanMi ankhel
heardthecase.

 Thecont emptnot icewasi ssuedbyat hree-j

udgeSCbenchonast or
yby
j
ournalistAhmedNoor anipubl i
shedonJul y6,2017inTheNewsheadl ined
“Scdi r
ectedI SIt
ol ookafterJITaf f
air
s”Ther epor
thadsuggest edthatthe
supervisi
onofadmi ni
str
ativ
eaf fai
rsofaj ointi
nvest
igati
onteam (JI
T)byt he
Int
er-Servi
ces Int
elli
gence had been made on a di rect
iveissued by the
i
mpl ement at
ionbenchoft heSupr emeCour tonthePanamaPaper scase.