 | NRO implementation: Dismissing fears, SC offers cornered govt breathing room
26 July 2012
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ISLAMABAD:
Those charging the apex court, openly and discreetly, of brazenly victimising the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government would have been caught off guard on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court, which, many charged, had set itself to make quick work of another prime minister, said that it did not plan on any “adverse” moves, and even offered a helping hand to the government to find a solution that could ‘vindicate’ both sides on an issue that has become an impasse: The writing of a letter to Swiss authorities retracting an earlier request to remove Pakistan from graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The issue has already cost one prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, his seat. Gilani had continuously refused to write the letter despite a number of direct orders by the court.
During Wednesday’s hearing of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case, which includes the writing of the letter to Swiss authorities, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa observed: “It seems that the nation is terrified … for God’s sake don’t be; we do not want to send a PM home everyday … nothing adverse is going to happen at this juncture.”
Judge Khosa adjourned the case for two weeks, until August 8, after Attorney-General Irfan Qadir, representing the government, asked for time to make “serious and genuine efforts” to resolve the stand-off with the judiciary on the matter.
“Earlier, the entire country was looking at us and now it will be looking at you,” the bench observed.
On Tuesday, the attorney-general had urged the court to withdraw its orders, calling them “un-implementable” and contrary to the Constitution. “We trust that it is not impossible to bridge the gap between stated positions of the two institutions,” said Justice Khosa.
Immunity for the president
Khosa went on to add that the court did not want to derail the democratic system and even offered to write a letter to the Swiss authorities, if requested by the government, saying President Zardari had immunity from prosecution as head of state. However, the government never claimed presidential immunity under Article 248 of the Constitution, Khosa said.
“We are not asking for his [president] prosecution. He is our president as well, is a symbol of respect and dignity for all of us and is our face out of Pakistan,” the judge added.
The court observed that “a letter is to be sent to Swiss authorities for withdrawal of instructions passed by former attorney general Malik Abdul Qayyum but a political party (without naming PPP) has a stated position that it will not write the letter till Asif Ali Zardari is president.”
Politics is all about adjustments but “from your end adjustment is not possible,” Justice Khosa said while addressing the attorney-general.
Preconceived notions
Earlier, the court asked the attorney-general whether the “court order had been complied with or not” on three separate occasions. When the attorney-general replied in the affirmative, the bench said: “No you did nothing, except make plans to thwart implementation.”
The attorney-general went on to add that he had serious reservations about the orders of the court, saying former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had been thrown out of office unconstitutionally. When the court informed the attorney-general that he could raise these issues in a review petition, Qadir said the government would file a review but it needed time.
“You should have said it straight away that you need more time,” observed Justice Khosa, to which the attorney-general replied that he thought this request would have been denied by the court. The judge pacified the otherwise firebrand Qadir, saying the court was at a loss about such perceptions, since the bench never made any such statements.
At one point in time, when the attorney-general asked Justice Khosa to recuse himself from the bench as he was not a part of this bench when the NRO case begun, the judge fired back by disclosing a candid conversation between the attorney-general and him.
“Let everybody know today that you (attorney-general) had visited Geneva twice and had told me that President Asif Ali Zardari was convicted for money laundering and you had also said that he (President) should be given more sentence,” said Justice Khosa, a claim confirmed by the attorney-general. | | See Also in Political News
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