Govt removes objections in Asghar Khan review plea



ISLAMABAD - The government on Monday removed all the objections put by the Supreme Court in the Asghar Khan case verdict review petition.
The federal government filed the review petition in the Supreme Court on Saturday, challenging its verdict in the case. But, the registrar returned the file as Rs10,000 fee of the court was not attached to it.
The review petition maintains that the Asghar Khan case was about rigging in the 1990 elections and no questions were raised about the office of the president. Therefore‚ the court should not have given verdict on this aspect, it said.
In the 16-page petition, filed by the deputy attorney general‚ the federation has sought review of observations of the court vis-a-vis office of the president.
The petition says the incumbent president assumed office in 2008 and as the court was informed earlier no political cell existed in the Presidency since then.
In its detailed verdict in the Asghar Khan case on November 8, the court held that unlawful orders by superior military officers or their failure to prevent unlawful actions by their subordinates were culpable.
The SC's judgment had also dwelt at length on the role of the president and the involvement of his office in politics.
“The president has no authority to create an election cell or to manage in any manner or by giving directions to the armed forces or to civilians to make efforts to achieve desired results,” the verdict said, adding, "If any such illegal order is transmitted, the same is not worthy to be obeyed." The review plea, filed through DAG Dil Mohammad Ali Zai, challenges the SC's decision regarding the Presidency.

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