Prime Minister’s punishment for contempt of court cannot exceed six months – Aitzaz Ahsan

Prime Minister’s legal advisor in contempt of court case and a renowned lawyer, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan has said that the punishment of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani cannot be of more than six months.

“In the January 10 order, a life term and a five-year imprisonment were also discussed but I don’t personally accept it. I believe the court will review it,” remarked Aitzaz while speaking to the media reporters after the contempt hearing.

During the hearing, Aitzaz told the seven-member bench of the Supreme Court that PM cannot write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen cases against President Asif Ali Zardari as ordered by the apex court earlier – because the latter enjoys immunity worldwide.

Narrating an example of Indian minister A Raja, who is currently serving jail after being found involved in corruption worth millions of rupees, Aitzaz said, “their Supreme Court said that the prime minister has so many engagements that even if his closest officer knew about the corruption, it could not be proved in the court that the prime minister also knew.

“Similarly, four documents have been submitted to the court in this case as evidences which imply that the prime minister did not have any knowledge of the court orders,” he added further.

“The court wondered if Prime Minister Gilani even read the newspapers, so I advised the bench that even they should not listen to the media and pass a verdict only based on the submitted documents, said PM’s legal advisor.  “These are the complete files; they can hang me over it if they wish,” he added.

The apex court of the country had initiated contempt proceedings against Gilani after the government refused to write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

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Posted by Asma Rafique on Mar 21 2012. Filed under Latest News. 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.