Former French Defence Minister Charles Millons testimony in a court of law about hefty kickbacks in the sale of three Agosta-90 submarines to Pakistan back in 1994, further reaffirms the conclusion of various investigations and reports, which reveal that the deal was mired in bribery and corruption. Since President Zardari and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were alleged to be the main characters benefiting from this deal, the news of Mr Millons testimony must be nothing less than a bombshell for both the Presidents. This development is among others, going to give a fresh impetus to the NRO case for which the PPP government has put up a defiant posture against the judiciary. The submarine kickback case was quashed against President Zardari under the NRO. Earlier, corruption charges were leveled against the President, the spouse of the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on the ground that a huge amount of money in the form of commission was deposited in President Zardaris Swiss accounts. Not only that but the then Chief of Naval staff, Admiral Mansoor ul-Haq admitted in a court of law to accepting bribes and returned a certain sum of the money he had taken. But Mr Millons statement has set the ball rolling all over again. On the other side of the spectrum, President Nicolas Sarkozy is also in soup, not only for his unscrupulous dealings in the entire affair but is indirectly being held responsible by the relatives for the death of 11 French engineers killed in Karachi in 2002. The lawyer of the aggrieved families has said that President Sarkozy could be called to a court of law even though he enjoys presidential immunity. There is a belief that the engineers were killed because some of the officials involved in the deal were not paid the promised bribe money and hence retaliated in this vicious manner. It is hoped that justice would prevail. It is high time for the government to respect the rule of law. Further defiance against judiciary in the face of new evidence would only be counter-productive.