Supreme Court of Pakistan. — Photo by AP

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the challenge to the constitution of the bench hearing contempt of court charges case against PCO judges.

Earlier on Saturday, former chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar challenged the presence of two judges on the Supreme Court bench constituted to hear contempt charges against him and other superior court judges. He said the two judges had been appointed on his recommendation.

“Propriety demands that Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez may kindly step down from the bench in the interest of justice and fair play so that the requirement of Article 10-A of the Constitution is fully met, which is now a fundamental right guaranteed to a citizen,” said the application moved by Ahmed Raza Khan Kasuri on behalf of Justice (Rtd.) Dogar.

The oath of Justice Dogar, who was named the Supreme Court chief justice soon after the November 3, 2007, emergency imposed by former president Pervez Musharraf, was held unconstitutional by a 14-judge bench in its verdict on July 31 last year.

The July 31 verdict also held illegal all actions taken by the former president, including the appointment of a number of judges.

The four-judge bench comprises of Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez and heard on Monday contempt charges against Justice Dogar and other judges for taking oath under the PCO in defiance of a restraining order issued by a seven-judge bench on November 3, 2007.

Besides Justice Dogar, the other judges facing contempt charges are: Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry, a former chief justice of the Lahore High Court, and eight sitting judges — Justice Sayed Zahid Hussain of the Supreme Court and Justices Khurshid Anwar Bhinder, Hamid Ali Shah, Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, Hasnat Ahmed Khan, Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, Yasmin Abbasey and Jehanzaib Rahim of different high courts.

This was the third challenge against the composition of the bench.