Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan is charging Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani a token legal fee of only Rs 100 for contesting his case in the Supreme Court, but at the same time, has set hard conditions for pleading the case. One of the conditions is to stop criticism of the judiciary. In an invoice issued by Aitzaz Ahsan and Associates, the senior lawyer said the people indulging in unpalatable criticism of the superior courts be restrained, while the other condition was to travel alone with him to the apex court. “You and I will travel to the courts by ourselves, and in all humility, without a procession of any kind,” Aitzaz said. It is pertinent to mention that PPP leaders, workers, lawyers and ally parties leaders were not accompanying Prime Minister Gilani and all of them had gone to the court by themselves. The prime minister drove to the SC himself with Aitzaz Ahsan on January 19.
Aitzaz has managed to win two weeks from the court for Prime Minister Gilani and also the “luxury” of getting the PM excused from appearing before the court in person. In 2007, Aitzaz contested the case of then-sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry for a similar token fee. According to media reports, Babar Awan was not appointed the federal law minister on instructions of Aitzaz and PPP hawks like Ehsan Raza Abibi, Fauzia Wahab, Sharmila Farooqi, Sharjeel Memon and Babar Awan, who remained major critics of the judiciary, have stopped criticising the judiciary, hinting at a silent ceasefire. When contacted, Aitzaz confirmed that he was charging only a token fee from the PM and had asked the PM to appear in the court alone. He said the prime minister had called him and asked him to contest the case. In his invoice-cum-draft agreement with Gilani, Aitzaz also spelt out his strategy before taking up the case. “You have always known my position on the basis of which I have continuously advised the government that since the office of the president (whosoever be the incumbent) imparts full immunity to the incumbent temporarily for the duration of the office, at home and abroad, the writing of the letter would not be of any consequence.” “Even though the letter to Switzerland would not have resulted in a prosecution, you have a defence if you thought it appropriate not to be seen to have set a precedent of pushing the president of our country into a public ordeal before a foreign forum,” he added. Aitzaz said this would amount to throwing a man into foreign fire in the belief that he cannot be harmed by domestic fire, the document said. Prime Minister Gilani took the same stance in the statement he made before the court on January 19. Analysts believe that Aitzaz has been chosen by the government as an attempt to patch up sour relations with the judiciary, given the lawyer’s epic role in the judiciary restoration movement. Ever since his engagement with the PM, PPP firebrands have turned silent and things are getting back to normal between the government and the judiciary, the opined.