Supreme Court formally convicts Prime Minister Gilani
Monday, February 13th, 2012 10:30:35 by Faisal Farooq
In what appeared to be a quite expected move, the Supreme Court on Monday indicted Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani for contempt of court in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case.
He became first Pakistani premier as he read charge-sheet against him. All the judges signed the charge sheet one by one. According to charge-sheet, the premier has been indicted for not complying with paragraph number 178 of Supreme Court’s verdict in NRO case.
It also stated that Gilani had violated Article 204 of the Constitution by not writing a letter to Swiss authorities as ordered by the court.
The court asked PM Gilani have you read the charge sheet upon which he replied in affirmative and said he understands the indictment. “I have read charge-sheet. “Yes I have read and understood it and I deny the charges”.
Gilani was served a contempt notice in the NRO implementation case when the government did not follow the court’s verdicts of writing a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against his boss President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) brawny Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan is serving as Gilani’s counsel in the contempt of court case. The apex court observed that it will only drop the summons if Gilani obeys its order to write to the Swiss authorities, asking them to re-open the cases closed under the umbrella of NRO.
The Prime Minister could face up to six-month imprisonment and disqualification from office if convicted in a case that has fanned political instability and may force elections within months.
Attorney General (AG) Maulvi Anwarul Haq has been asked by the apex court to act as the prosecutor by the SC. Aitzaz begged time till 24 for submission of reply as he was busy in Senate elections. On which, the court exempted the premier from further hearings, adjourning the hearing until February 22.
Tags: Aitzaz Ahsan, contempt of court, Maulvi Anwarul Haq, NRO, ppp, President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani, Supreme CourtShort URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=12501
Posted by Faisal Farooq
on Feb 13 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan.
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Regarding the executive and the judiciary, the Constitution of Pakistan (1973) has described a system of trichotomy of power; the constitution assigns the Supreme Court a unique responsibility of maintaining harmony and balance between the three pillars of the state, namely the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The idea is to ensure that the state organs perform their respective functions within the stipulated limits and constraints. As a guardian of the constitution, the court is required to “preserve, protect and defend” this document. However, it is extremely sad that the current judiciary has failed to maintain harmony and balance between the pillars of state. On the other hand, our executive has gone all out to defend the system of trichotomy of power envisaged in the constitution of Pakistan. Even the chief executive of our country, the prime minister of Pakistan, is going to appear in the Supreme Court for the sake of defending democracy in Pakistan. Given that the NRO beneficiaries are 8,041, so far, only one person who is the president of Pakistan has been targeted and the remaining 8,040 people are exempted from accountability; is this not against national interests?