Supreme Court gives two more weeks to file review petition

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday granted Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf two more weeks for filing a review petition against the July 12 verdict.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa resumed the hearing of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case.

While issuing a deadline to the government to write the letter to Swiss authorities by August 8, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said that the federal government could file an appeal to review July 12 ruling.

Attorney General Irfan Qadir started his arguments on the issue of writing a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, saying that the Supreme Court should not monitor cases in the NAB (National Accountability Bureau).

He argued that no officer of the accountability bureau was bound to report to the apex court. Upon which, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa asked whether the court’s ruling was followed about writing the letter to the Swiss authorities.

He remarked, “You (Attorney General) had said that the president had been sentenced for six months over a money laundering conviction”. Upon which, Irfan Qadir admitted to having said so. Justice Khosa made it clear that they don’t have a personal interest in this case.

Later, Attorney General Irfan Qadir said that a request will be field in the court for review of the bench’s July 12 verdict.

The Attorney General during the course of hearing said Justice Asif Saeed Khosa should detach himself from the bench, citing his subjective approach in the case. Justice Khosa rejected the pea, saying that he will voluntarily quit the bench if proved that his approach was subjective in the case.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had rejected Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s reply submitted to the court, saying that a plea for review of the court’s order should have been filed instead.

It said a civil miscellaneous application could not be filed against a court ruling. It, however, said only review petition could be filed in such cases.

Attorney General Irfan Qadir, who submitted the petition on behalf of the government, said that he will file a review petition with contentions similar to that contained in the rejected plea.

His remarks were clearly indicating the mood of the government for not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=29578

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jul 25 2012. Filed under Latest News, 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.