Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan. - File Photo

ISLAMABAD: An intra-court appeal requesting the Supreme Court to suspend its decision of framing contempt charges against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is expected to be filed in a couple of days.

“We are in the process of preparing the appeal which may take a couple of days more and will be filed instantly afterwards,” an associate of Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, the counsel for the prime minister, told Dawn on condition of anonymity.

On Thursday, a seven-judge bench had moved a step closer to finding the prime minister guilty of contempt of court and summoned him on Feb 13.

Mr Gilani will appear in person before the bench, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, and will be finally indicted. The court will, however, provide him an opportunity to respond to the charges while postponing the further proceedings for a few days. Soon after the bench had announced its decision to charge the prime minister with contempt, Barrister Ahsan sought a month’s time to file the intra-court appeal against the ruling.

Later talking to reporters, he said he would suggest to the prime minister to consider moving the appeal against the decision. In the evening the same day, he had briefed the prime minister and other leaders of the PPP on the legal implications of the court proceedings.

Mr Ahsan only has a week to file the appeal because the prime minister has been summoned by the court on Feb 13. If filed the appeal will likely to be placed before a bench comprising the rest of the remaining nine judges of the Supreme Court within the next week.

The intra-court appeal is filed under Section 19 (iii) of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 5 of 2003, which is always fixed before a larger bench than the original seven-judge bench.

The appellate court can suspend the order being challenged, pending disposal of the appeal. However, such appeal should be filed within a period of 30 days.

If the decision of indicting the prime minister is not suspended or stayed then both the proceedings -— contempt and appeal — will be heard simultaneously.

However, there is also a possibility that the larger bench may ask the smaller bench to further delay the framing of charges by any date the former may fix as was done in Feb last year.

On Feb 22, 2011, a specially-constituted seven-judge bench hearing intra-court appeals by the then seven sitting judges and two retired judges accused of contempt had asked the four-judge bench waiting in another room to indict the PCO judges to delay the decision till March 7. The judges were facing contempt charges for taking oath under the PCO in defiance of the Nov 3, 2007, restraining order.