Supreme Court dismisses Pakistani Prime Minister’s appeal against contempt charges
Saturday, February 11th, 2012 8:30:32 by Hamza Jahangir
Pakistan’s Supreme Court dismissed an appeal on Friday over contempt charges against Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani for failing to pursue corruption investigations of President Asif Ali Zardari, escalating a tense standoff between
the judiciary and the governing Pakistan People’s Party.
The Supreme Court says it will start contempt-of-court proceedings against Mr. Gilani on Feb. 13. If convicted, Mr. Gilani faces up to six months in prison and disqualification from office.
The decision came after a full day of legal argument and was the latest twist in a judicial saga that started in 2009, when the Supreme Court ordered the government to write a letter to the authorities in Switzerland, requesting
that they reopen a corruption investigation against Mr. Zardari.
The investigation centres on charges of corruption involving Mr. Zardari and a Swiss company dating from the 1990s. For more than two years, the government resisted the court order through a variety of delaying tactics, but the
judges lost patience last month.
In court proceedings on Friday morning, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that the judiciary respected Parliament and was “exercising restraint.” But, he stressed, the government had continuously defied the court’s
orders.
“We undermine ourselves if we don’t ensure compliance,” said Jawad S. Khawaja, another judge, as Aitzaz Ahsan, the lawyer for Mr. Gilani, tried unsuccessfully to persuade the panel of judges, led by Chief Justice Chaudhry, to quash
the contempt-of-court charges.
Mr. Ahsan maintained that by not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities, Mr. Gilani was merely acting on the advice of his legal team and did not intentionally commit contempt of court. “He holds the court in highest esteem
and respect,” said Mr. Ahsan, referring to Mr. Gilani. “The contempt notice may kindly be discharged,” Mr. Ahsan said in his concluding remarks.
Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=12482
Posted by Hamza Jahangir
on Feb 11 2012. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan, Politics.
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