ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday constituted a five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry, to hear the petitions filed against the new contempt of court law, DawnNews reported.

Other members of the bench include Justice Shakirullah Jan, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Jawad S Khawaja and Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jilani.

The hearing for the case is scheduled for 23rd July.

The federation, the prime minister, speaker National Assembly, chairman Senate, the attorney general, the federal law minister and secretary cabinet division were made party in the constitutional petitions filed in the court.

The contempt of court law  had been hurriedly passed by the ruling government in a bid to protect the incumbentprime minister from facing the same fate as his predecessor.

The law exempts “holders of public office” from the mischief of contempt in “exercise of powers and performance of functions” and allows for suspension of a sentence during the pendency of an appeal.

The main opposition party in the National Assembly, the PML-N, had objected to the passage of the law saying it was not sent to relevant standing committees for deliberation.