Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf today reached Supreme Court in Islamabad to face a charge of contempt of court for refusing to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

He is the second premier to be summoned by the court on the same ground. Several federal ministers, including Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, and leaders of the ruling coalition arrived in the court earlier to appear alongside the premier as a show of solidarity.

The premier will appear before a five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa to respond to a contempt of court charge.