By serving a contempt notice on Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case, the larger bench of the Supreme Court on Monday took the first of the six options proposed by the five-member bench on January 10 while legal experts claim that President Asif Ali Zardari may also be issued such a notice if the government kept on defying the orders of the SC in the coming days due to the president’s contention in an interview that the government will never write letter to Swiss authorities.
Apart from proposing to initiate the contempt of court proceedings against the chief executive and the law secretary for not implementing the NRO verdict, the five member bench on January 10 had also proposed the larger bench that action may be taken against the president for violating the constitution.
President Asif Ali Zardari, as the co-chairman of the PPP in an interview, said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had decided not to write a letter to Swiss authorities. As the president making a public statement that the PPP had decided not to write a letter to the Swiss authorities, the constitutional experts opined that his statement amounted to contempt of court which was also not covered by the constitutional provision giving immunity to him.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed said by saying that the PPP had decided not to write a letter to the Swiss authorities, the president had committed contempt of court. He said the president was not supposed to write a letter as the chief executive, the prime minister, was answerable to the court but his remarks of defiance were tantamount to contempt of court.
Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed said President Zardari’s refusal to implement the Supreme Court’s verdict was reflective of the government’s intention of confronting the judiciary.
“President Zardari has committed a contempt of court. A contempt of court case is also not covered under Article 248 of the constitution which gives immunity to the President,” he said.
Justice (r) Saeeduz Zaman Siddique said President Zardari’s refusal to implement the Supreme Court order amounted to contempt of court though he had not been directed by the SC to write a letter.
Senator SM Zafar said it was a wrong decision by the government to not comply with the Supreme Court’s orders. “The PPP government must review its decision as it can ultimately trigger a clash between the institutions,” Zafar said.
He said if the government kept on defying Supreme Court orders in the NRO implementation case, the larger bench in future might act on other options proposed to it by five-member bench, including the one in which action had been recommended against President Zardari for violating the constitution.
Senator Wasim Sajjad said he was unable to comment on a hypothesis. “The Supreme Court has not served contempt notice on President Zardari yet and I cannot comment on court’s future possible actions,” he said.
Another legal expert, Babar Sattar said contempt of court proceedings could be initiated against President Zardari for his remarks that the government would not write letter to Swiss authorities.
“He just said that it was the decision of his party (PPP). He gave this statement in the capacity of PPP’s co-chairperson. The Supreme Court can take action against him for misconduct and breach of oath but he can be removed only through impeachment,” Sattar said.
