The Supreme Court on Monday indicted Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani for contempt of court.
A seven-member bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk and comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Muhammad Athar Saeed framed the two-page charge sheet against Prime Minister Gilani in a suo moto case No. 4/2010 etc (Contempt of Court Matter) for non-compliance of paragraph 178 of the Supreme Court judgement in the defunct National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
Gilani is the first prime minister of the country who has been indicted by the Supreme Court.
The court asked PM Gilani "have you read the charge sheet" upon which he replied in affirmative and said he understands the indictment. Attorney General (AG) Maulvi Anwarul Haq has been asked by the apex court to act as the prosecutor by the SC.
All the judges signed the charge sheet one by one. Lawyer for PM, Aitzaz Ahsan begged time till Feb 24 for submission of reply as he was going out of the country and will come back by 21st Feb.
The apex court asked the prosecutor to submit the required documents till Feb 16.
Hearing of the case has been adjourned till February 22. The evidence by the prime minister will be recorded on Feb 27 and 28.
The seven-member bench after a brief proceeding of the contempt of court case framed the two-page charge sheet against the prime minister for non-compliance of the Supreme Court judgement on NRO.
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Asfandyar Wali Khan and federal ministers including Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Syed Khurshid Shah, Mir Changez Jamali, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Rehman A Malik and Maula Bakhsh Chandio, Governor Punjab Sardar Latif Khan Khosa and a large number of members of the Parliament and leaders belonging to PPP were also present in the court room during the contempt proceedings against the prime minister.
PM Gilani arrived the Supreme Court along with some other Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leaders amid stringent security around Red Zone area of the federal capital, which was sealed for all kinds of traffic and pedestrians alike. Helicopters buzzed over the capital.
PM Gilani was allowed to drive his car inside the premises of SC. The permission was granted by the SC's Registrar late on Sunday night owing to security concerns.