Prime Minister Gilani declines to write letter to Swiss authorities

In quite an expected move, Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday submitted his reply to the Supreme Court (SC), saying he will not write letter to Swiss authorities.

Barrister Gohar, an associate of Aitzaz Ahsan, submitted the reply comprises of 24 pages and 84 paragraphs signed by PM Gilani himself, in the Registrar Office.

In his reply, the premier argued that President Asif Ali Zardari could not be thrown before a foreign magistrate, requesting the apex court to show restrain. He asked the court to refer the matter to the parliament like the judges’ appointment issue.

Gilani also prayed before the court to withdraw the rulings passed in his absence on March 08, 2012.

A seven-judge bench of the apex court with Justice Nasirul Mulk in the chair had asked Aitzaz Ahsan that he could submit a written reply on behalf of the Prime Minister.

The bench also had given another way saying the accused could appear in person if he wanted to. Hearing would be resumed on March 21; in any case, the court had made it clear in its verdict.

Secretary Cabinet Division and Ministry of Defence, Nargis Sethi, had appeared before the Supreme Court in the previous hearing, recording her statement in support of Prime Minister Gilani.

After Gilani failed to write a letter to the Swiss authorities requesting them to re-open closed graft cases against his boss President Asif Ali Zardari, the Supreme Court indicted him in contempt of court case.

The court had issued number of repeated directions to federation to implement its verdict in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case. However, the incumbent did not hear the screams of the apex court.

On one occasion, Gilani stated that he would prefer to go to jail for contempt which was only six months as by writing a letter he could be charged with treason under Constitution.

Earlier, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan stated that it was not necessary that court’s ruling against PM Gilani would result in his disqualification from premiership.

Additionally, the counsel said a sentence of less than two years could not disqualify the prime minister, adding that following the Constitution does not indicate that they are at odds with the judiciary.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Mar 19 2012. Filed under National, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.