ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Wednesday warned that those responsible for writing the second letter to the Swiss authorities without consulting the apex court in money laundering case against President Asif Ali Zardari would face serious consequences and directed Attorney General Munir A Malik to submit all record in this regard. During hearing of the NRO implementation case, the attorney general told the court that two letters were written to the Swiss authorities – the first on the direction of the apex court and the second on its own. In the second letter, the previous government wrote to the Swiss authorities that it did not want to reopen the cases against the president.He said the government has filed an appeal in the Swiss court for reopening corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. “I received information about refusal of the Swiss authorities on the night of June 20, 2013, and was required to file an appeal by June 24. We have filed an appeal with the request to condone the few days’ delay,” Attorney General Munir A Malik informed the apex court.The Nation and Nawa-i-Waqt were the first to break the news that the former government had written two letters to the Swiss authorities. The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court and many others in the courtroom were astonished when the AG revealed that the previous government on November 22 last wrote a letter to its lawyer in Geneva that the cases against President Zardari should not be revived. “After the November 5, 2012, letter, written in consultation with the SC seeking withdrawal of the letter written by former Attorney General Abdul Qayyum Malik for closure of the cases, the previous government wrote another letter on November 22 addressing Dr Nicholas Jaanding, their lawyer in Geneva that cases against President Zardari should not be revived,” Munir A Malik said, producing the letter in the court.The AG further disclosed that in the letter written by the then federal law secretary Justice (r) Yasmin Abbasey, the government had said, “The requests for mutual legal assistance made earlier in 1997 were illegal, having no legal effect, are hereby withdrawn by the government of Pakistan and may be treated as never written.”In the letter written without informing the SC, the government had urged the Swiss authorities that the orders regarding closure of the cases by former AG Abdul Qayyum on May 25, 2008, were final and could not be reopened under the Swiss laws, the AG said.Munir A Malik further said the decision of the Swiss authorities was conveyed to the government of Pakistan on February 4, 2013, but it was only available on the record on June 14, 2013, and that too after the incumbent government asked its ambassador in Geneva to start proceedings.The ambassador informed the government that the Swiss lawyer conveyed the decision of Pakistani authorities to the Swiss government that the steps taken on the orders of the SC were essentially political and in the eyes of the Republic of Pakistan, the criminal proceedings had been closed and could not be reopened. The AG further said on June 14, 2013, the federal government learnt that they could appeal against the decision of the Swiss authorities within 10 days. He further told the bench that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had constituted a two-member team comprising Cabinet Division Secretary Sami Saeed and Intelligence Bureau DG Aftab Sultan to find the reasons for the unavailability of the record of the letters written to the Swiss authorities with the law ministry and to fix the responsibility.After hearing the arguments of the AG, the bench asked why the November 22, 2012, letter was written, why no record was available about the November 5, 2012, letter written after consulting the SC, who was responsible and whether any violation of the SC’s judgment in the NRO case had been made.The bench in its order asked the federal government to complete the enquiry and submit a report within two weeks. The court adjourned the hearing for two weeks.