Prominent legal luminary, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan on Wednesday excused himself from representing Muttahida Qaumi Movement's Quaid Altaf Hussain in the contempt of court notice against him. Speaking to media, Ahsan said he could not take the case due to the fact that Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was on the bench hearing the notice.

He said according to his pledge during the movement for the restoration of judges, he had promised not to appear before the bench headed by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. He said a MQM leader had asked him to represent Hussain in the case. Aitzaz said he represented former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in the Supreme Court but did not charge any fee.

He said the Chief Justice should not cancel his trip to Karachi due to security issues, adding that, if the Chief Justice did not make the visit, it may give the MQM Quaid the justification not to come to Pakistan. "The MQM Quaid could say that if the Chief Justice did not have enough security, how could Hussain come to Pakistan from the United Kingdom," Ahsan said.

Copyright Independent News Pakistan, 2012