Gilani convicted: Text Supreme Court's order

ISLAMABAD: A seven-member bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday convicted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in contempt of court proceedings against him for refusing in complying with an order to write a letter to the authorities in Switzerland to ask them to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Following is the Supreme Court Order.

Order :
For the reasons to be recorded later the accused Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Prime Minister of Pakistan/Chief Executive of the Federation is found guilty of and convicted for contempt of court under Article 204(2) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 read with section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance (Ordinance V of 2003) for Willful flouting, disregard and disobedience of this Courts direction contained in paragraph No. 178 of the judgement delivered in the case of Dr. Mobashir Hassan v Federation of Pakistan (PLD 2010 SC 265) after our satisfaction that the contempt committed by him is substantially detrimental to the administration of justice and tends to bring this Court and the judiciary of this country into ridicule.

2. As regards the sentence to be passed against the convict we not that the findings and the conviction for contempt of court recorded above are likely to entail some serious consequences in terms of Article 63(1)g of the Constitution which may be treated as mitigation factors towards the sentence to be passed against him. He is, there, punished under section 5 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance (Ordinance V of 2003) with imprisonment till the rising of the Court today.