Aitzaz Ahsan says Prime Minister can perform his duties from prison

Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, the counsel for Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, said the verdict of trial bench of the Supreme Court didn’t amount to disqualification, adding that his client could perform his duties even from prison.

The political surrounding the premier’s conviction in the contempt case took a somewhat humorous turn, as the apex court question whether a convicted person could still be the chief executive of the country.

Aitzaz Ahsan stated, “One could question the moral and political status of a member of parliament who was convicted under moral turpitude like committing corruption, but there was no constitutional bar in this regard”.

The lawyer said National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza had used her judicial powers about the sentence to the prime minister and gave her ruling over the issue with due application of her mind.

She noted, “She is no longer a mere ‘post office’ after the passage of the 18th Amendment by parliament and now the speaker has to perform her exclusive functions of a sovereign institution”.

The bench asked the lawyer to complete his argument by Monday and adjourned the hearing. It reflected that the court had made up its mind and a judgment was likely in the coming week.

Senator Aitzaz also requested Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to form a larger bench in view of the significance of the matter.

In his view, Dr Fehmida Mirza had made the right decision on the qualification of the prime minister in light of the seven-member bench’s verdict in the contempt of court issue.

Arguing that in view of the tracheotomy of powers, he said the courts must give some respect to other institutions, particularly parliament.

He pointed out the ruling of the seven-member bench, saying the concept of subjective satisfaction of a court or a judge was alien to law of the land.

The counsel for premier informed that there would be no automatic disqualification of a member of parliament under 63 of the constitution, saying the respondents’ conviction didn’t mean his disqualification.

He accepted the judicial verdict but was persuading the court that his client had not stood disqualified on the basis of a verdict and thus did not require appealing against the verdict.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=25981

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jun 16 2012. Filed under National, Pakistan. 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.