GILGIT: The GilgitBaltistan Lawyers Action Committee for Constitutional Status on Monday announced it would file a contempt of court case against the federal government in the Supreme Court for denying constitutional rights to the people of the mountainous region.

Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Association vice chairman Shahbaz Khan told a news conference here that on May 28, 1999, the Supreme Court had asked the federal government to grant constitutional rights to the GB people in line with the Constitution but the orders had yet to be implemented.

He said the GB people had been denied constitutional rights as the Federal Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan ruled their region through a colonial era system of issuing executive orders.

Shahbaz said the region`s current governance system was managed through the GB Empowerment and SelfGovernance Order 2009, an executive order, which was not protected by the Constitution.

He said under the Supreme Court orders, the GB people should be given right to elect the region`s constituent assembly to ensure protection of their fundamental rights.

`As a result of the continuous denial of constitutional rights to the people of GB, we`ve decided to file contempt application with the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the federal government for violation of its May 1999 orders,` he said.