A seven-judge special bench of the Supreme Court directed Aitzaz Ahsen, counsel for Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, on Thursday to submit by February 1 a detailed reply in the contempt of court case against the premier for failing to write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The bench, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk and comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Muhammad Ather Saeed, also exempted the prime minister from personal appearance before the court on the next hearing in the contempt case.
Ahsen argued that under Article 248 of the constitution, President Zardari enjoyed immunity within the country and abroad, thus a letter to reopen cases against him could not be written to the Swiss authorities until he was the president, thus a contempt notice should not have been served on his client.
But he requested the court to grant him a month’s time to file a detailed response over the matter. He said time was required to access and go through the record of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case. Justice Nasirul Mulk said access to the record of the case could be availed in two days’ time.
He said this was not a case of a nominal nature, thus he required at least one month to get prepared to argue it. “I have no access to the record pertaining to letters to Swiss authorities, hence I should be given at least one month time to look into it,” he contended.
Justice Nasirul Mulk, however, said the court could direct the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Law Ministry to provide him the documents pertaining to the issue. He told Ahsen that the record was available and he could go through it within two days.
When Ahsen stressed further that the case was of a very important nature and should not be considered in haste, the court accepted his request and directed him to file the detailed reply by February 1.
Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany observed that deliberately refusing to implement the court order was tantamount to contempt of court, adding that the prime minister had stated that he had no intention of committing contempt of court. Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa regretted that the media reported the ruling on the NRO implementation case in an inaccurate manner.
Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan enquired why the government had been silent on the issue of immunity for over two years. To a court query, Ahsen said the apex court’s decision would be implemented when President Zardari was no longer the president. He said he would confine himself to argue on the issue of the contempt notice served to the premier. To a court query, he said the law secretary could better brief the court on whether he had moved a summary to the prime minister for implementation of the NRO verdict. Justice Khosa asked Ahsen to give arguments on the question of immunity, but the counsel stated that he would advance his arguments on the contempt notice to prove that the premier had bona fide intention under the constitution by not writing the letter to reopen the cases against the president.
The court reminded him that it had directed the law secretary to repeat the summary to the prime minister for the implementation of the NRO verdict, but he had not done so. Ahsen, however, contended that this time the issue was not of sending a summary, but a criminal proceeding against the premier who also enjoyed constitutional protection. “No authority of the state could push the president into the foreign country’s courts as he enjoys immunity under Article 248 of the constitution,” he stressed.
Justice Osmany asked Ahsen whether the government would write a letter to the Swiss authorities if the court proved that the president had no immunity, but Ahsen skipped the question.
Justice Khosa asked him whether he wanted to argue the question of immunity, adding that the court – in its earlier order – had ruled that if anyone claimed to have immunity, they should come to the court.
Aitzaz said his client was an elected prime minister and the constitution gave him protection as well. He submitted that Para 178 of the NRO judgement related to President Zardari, who enjoyed immunity under the constitution.
The court then adjourned further hearing until February 1.
Aitzaz to file reply by Feb 1
