ISLAMABAD - A visibly lenient and thoughtful supreme court Wednesday granted Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf two more weeks to write letter to the Swiss, following the dismissal of his reply submitted a day earlier in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case.
There were speculations that court could pass some decisive order against the prime minister or the federation as during the last hearing, on July 12, the five-member bench being led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had issued a veiled threat that Raja might be forced out of office like his predecessor.
The court had ordered the new prime minister to act forthwith, saying he ‘has merely stepped into the shoes of Yousuf Raza Gilani’ so he too was bound to implement the relevant court directions ‘regardless of any advice’.
However, the bench gave the PM until August 8 to comply with the court orders, including writing to Swiss authorities for reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. The court also gave the federation the option to file a review petition against its July 12 verdict. A BBC Urdu report stated it to be ‘the last chance’ to the government to comply with the court orders.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Justice Khosa while addressing the attorney general said it appears that none of the directions given in the last hearing has been complied with. Attorney General Irfan Qadir, instead of responding to the bench, said in this case law was not being followed.
He said para 178 of NRO judgment was ‘not implementable’. There are serious reservations about it as one prime minister has been sent home ‘unconstitutionally’ for not implementing the court order. He said July 12, 2012 order was not in consonance with the verdict passed by 17-member SC bench in the NRO case.
Advising the attorney general not to go for confrontation, Justice Khosa said there must be a solution to this issue and dispelled the impression that the supreme court wanted to derail the system. The attorney general then requested for some time to resolve the issue and assured that serious and genuine efforts would be made to resolve this so-called standoff between the two vital institutions of the country.
“We trust that the gap between the stated positions of two institutions is not impossible to bridge and we wish him (AG) well in his endeavour to resolve the pending issue,” said Justice Khosa. He also stated that now the whole country would be looking toward the attorney general as he has assured the court to resolve the matter and asked him ‘don’t disappoint the nation’.
Justice Khosa said it was the stated position of the court that the letter should be written to the Swiss authorities. He said that they wanted to empower the political parties. The president has immunity internationally and this thing they have already conveyed during the proceedings of contempt case against Yousuf Raza Gilani. He added that Zardari being the president of the country enjoys customary international immunity abroad.
Extending help, Justice Khosa said if the government wanted, they could write in the judgement that “as long as Zardari is president of the country he has immunity under international law”. The honourable judge asked the attorney general to find a way that vindicates the position of both the government and the Supreme Court.
He said the nation should not be worried as there was no danger to democracy. “We don’t want to derail any persons, government or any institution. This is our country. But we would not compromise on the dignity of this court. Speculation should die down now as the economy is nose-diving and there is political instability in the country.”
Earlier, the attorney general arguing the case said the NAB couldn’t be subject to follow the Supreme Court orders, as it is an independent body. “No NAB officers could be issued directions by this court and no NAB officer is answerable to this court,” he said. Justice Khosa said that like other officials the NAB officials are answerable to the court.
The AG further stated that there were major flaws in the NRO judgment, adding that law was not followed in the case in letter and spirit. He said that being a principal law officer he had to defend the government as well as assist the court. “In three years the NAB failed to comply with the NRO judgment, as it was un-implementable.” He asked the court to avoid confrontation with the government.
Justice Khosa said ever you heard that any judge has given a statement to the press. He said: “This is our country too and if due to our weakness the country is damaged then it will be unfortunate.” He said that the government has planned not to implement the court judgment.
The bitter words were exchanged between Justice Khosa and the attorney general when the AG said that if a judge had discussed the issue (bank accounts of President Zardari) with a private counsel then he could not sit in the bench. “I am not saying that I don’t respect you but you should recuse from the bench,” the AG asked Justice Khosa.
Justice Khosa asked the attorney general if he had discussed the NRO issue with him. The AG replied in positive. Upon that, Justice Khosa asked him, “What was the matter in Switzerland... You told me that Zardari was awarded six months sentence but given the scale of money laundering, the sentence should have been more,” he said and added: “On one hand, you had prosecuted Zardari’s money laundering case but, on the other, you are now defending him in NRO judgment.” The attorney general was taken aback when Justice Khosa said this information could be obtained from internet.
Justice Khosa said that there was no question of bias in the case. The attorney general said they have also taken note of the Khalil Jibbran poetry in the contempt judgment against ex-PM Yousuf Raza Gilani. Justice Khosa said but this time it would not be Khalil Jibbran, but if you wish it could be Shakespeare or the quotes from the Holy Quran.
The attorney general sought time so that they could file review. He said that he thought the court would not grant him time. Justice Amir Hani Muslim on that remarked that how did you think that the court would not grant time to the government. On the request of the attorney general the court adjourned the hearing until August 8.
During proceedings, NAB Prosecutor General KK Agha informed the court about the progress made in Adnan Khwaja, Malik Qayum and Ahmed Riaz Sheikh cases. The NAB official told the bench that the investigation against the out of rule appointment of Adnan Khwaja as OGDCL chief has been completed and the matter is now in prosecution phase, adding that the NAB Board will further decide upon the matter in next 2-3 weeks. About Ahmed Riaz Sheikh, the court was informed that the decision has been made to file references against three persons within three weeks after the conclusion of probe.