ISLAMABAD  – Pakistan People’s Party Senator Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan on Wednesday excused himself from representing Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain in the contempt of court case.
Talking to the media, Ahsan said he could not take the case due to the fact that Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was on the bench hearing the case.
He said that during the Lawyer’s Movement he had pledged that he would not appear before a bench headed by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. The former Supreme Court Bar Association president said that an MQM leader had asked him to represent Altaf in the court.
Aitzaz said that he had represented former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in the Supreme Court but did not charge any fee.
He said that the chief justice should not cancel his Karachi visit due to security issues, adding that if the CJP cancels the visit, it may give the MQM chief justification for not to come to Pakistan.
The MQM chief could say that if the chief justice does not have enough security, how he could be safe in Pakistan, Aitzaz said.
On December 14, the Supreme Court had asked the MQM chief to appear before it in person and explain why he should not be charged for contempt over ‘his polemical statement against the judiciary’.
In a telephonic address from London to a gathering in Karachi on December 2, Altaf had criticised the judiciary, saying that judges of the apex court should apologise for their remarks on delimitation of Karachi's constituencies or face the consequences.