Legal Case Summary

Case Details
Case ID 44eba274-b591-4bbe-8969-ed5c99bcfe2c
Body View case body.
Case Number Criminal Miscellaneous Petition No. 297 of 1964
Decision Date May 10, 1965
Hearing Date
Decision The application by the Additional Advocate-General West Pakistan was dismissed. The court found insufficient evidence to hold the respondents guilty of contempt of court regarding the editorial published in the journal 'Faran'. The editorial was written and published before the legal proceedings against the Jamaat-e-Islami commenced, and thus, the respondents could not have foreseen the legal implications of their publication. The court emphasized that contempt of court requires a nexus between the act and the ongoing legal proceedings, which was not established in this case. Consequently, the notice was discharged.
Summary In the case of 'The State vs. Maiher-ul-Qadri and Sarwar Hussain', the Sindh High Court addressed a petition by the Additional Advocate-General concerning alleged contempt of court due to an editorial published in the journal 'Faran'. The editorial, which defended the Jamaat-e-Islami, was published prior to any government notification declaring the Jamaat unlawful, leading to a writ petition challenging the notification. The court determined that the timing of the publication did not interfere with legal proceedings, as the editorial was released before any action was taken against the Jamaat. This case highlights critical aspects of free speech, the timing of publication in relation to legal proceedings, and the standards for establishing contempt of court. The court ultimately dismissed the application, reinforcing the principle that prior publication does not inherently constitute contempt without a direct connection to ongoing litigation.
Court Sindh High Court
Entities Involved Not available
Judges H. T. RAYMOND, J
Lawyers Mr. Haleem, Mr. Ghulam Hussain Abbasi
Petitioners The State
Respondents Sarwar Hussain, Maiher-ul-Qadri
Citations 1968 SLD 392, 1968 PCRLJ 945
Other Citations P L D 1963 C 610
Laws Involved Contempt of Courts Act of 1926, Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1908
Sections 2, 16