LAHORE: Hearing of a petition challenging the pardon granted by President Asif Ali Zardari to Interior Minister Rehman Malik was adjourned to December 24 by a full bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday. Earlier, Deputy Attorney General Naveed Inayat Malik had requested adjournment on behalf of the federation, citing Rehman’s pending adjudication in Supreme Court as an excuse.
Barrister Farooq Hassan, representing the petitioner, opposed the request saying the government was only delaying proceedings. The bench, headed by Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry asked DAG to present a detailed argument for a longer adjournment. Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi, media advisor of Save Judiciary Committee, had filed the petition alleging that the pardon was in violation of Article 45 of the constitution, adding that Malik, after being awarded the sentence by an accountability court, had bypassed the SC and had asked President Zardari for pardon, who had granted it after the restoration of conviction by the High Court. This incomplete procedure and pardon was a mockery of the judicial system, the petitioner said, praying to the court to restore Malik’s sentence.
