Aitzaz Ahsen, who is representing Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the contempt case against him, said on Thursday that he would file an intra-court appeal against the Supreme Court’s February 2 order summoning the premier on February 13 to be indicted for contempt of court over his refusal to write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. He said, however, that the filing of an appeal was subject to the prime minister’s approval. He told reporters at the Supreme Court premises that there was definitely an option of filing an appeal against the court’s decision. “My advice to my client would be to file an appeal, but the decision rests with him,” he said. Ahsen said even though there was a possibility for an appeal in this matter, it was the court’s prerogative whether to suspend the order or not. “This will actually be decided after getting a copy of the order,” he added.
He emphasised on his earlier stance that the show-cause notice issued to the prime minister should be discharged. The prime minister, he said, acted upon the advice of the law minister and law secretary – which was sent in writing– and thus, did not commit any contempt of court. He said he wanted democracy to prevail and flourish in the country and clash of institutions to end. He said the court should also issue a notice to former army chief General (r) Pervez Musharraf, who twice abrogated the constitution – once on October 12, 1999 and again on November 3, 2007 – and sacked the judges of the apex court. He said his client had been asked to appear in court in person on February 13, at which time he would be indicted.
He said four senior officials of the Law Ministry had unanimously advised the prime minister through a summary not to write the letter to the Swiss authorities, as it would be a futile exercise because the cases were closed because of unavailability of required evidence. He said the prime minister had acted upon the summary, thus it did not warrant contempt of court charges. Ahsen also said the prime minister had very humbly bowed his head before the court. “I did not represent an individual before the court, I represented the constitution before the court,” he said. Meanwhile, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Yaseen Azad also expressed apprehensions that the situation was heading towards a constitutional crisis after the court’s February 2 decision. He questioned why the court always issued notices to the civilian prime ministers and never to military heads of state, as in the case of General (r) Musharraf, who abrogated the constitution twice. “The Army Act is not above the constitution and I still believe that the real political force in the country is the army,” he added. He said the court’s verdict in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case had almost completely been implemented, except for the letter to the Swiss authorities. He said one more opportunity should have been given to the premier to submit his stance. He suggested the government write the letter because the country could not afford confrontation among its chief institutions.
Kaise Kamina adalat hai ki sirf log ke chuna politician ko contempt dikahte hai aur coup karne wale Army generals ko nahin
PCO judges working on ISI and PTI agenda. Why only PPP and PMLN always called up by courts why not generals and why not ISI favorite Ilzam khan??
yaar aap ke baat sun hansii aate hai.
This supreme court has lived up to its past reputition, it would continiue to salute generals but will not hesitate to go am exyra mile to violate constitution it is supposed to uphold. Unfortunately it will only serve its masters in aabpara.
woh kamina coward hay .
Aitaza sb; gila kartay hain kay generals ko adalet main nahi bolaiya jata,isee hukumat nay to Mushraf ko guard of honour day kr see off kia,ab adalet nay os kay warrant jaree kiaye to os ko griftar kr kay adalat kay samnay pesh karna to hukmet ka kam ha
The Supreme Court's logic that immunity under Article 248(2) needs to be claimed. I am a citizen of Pakistan. I have a right to life. Do I need to claim it first, otherwise anybody can shoot me?
The matter is very simple. Asif Zardari enjoys immunity. Judges should take this fact into consideration on their own. Letter can be written after his tenure ends. We all know, 60 million dollars are not going to be repatriated. And there are hundreds of thousands of cases pending in our higher judiciary since decades. So, what is the hurry in this particular case? It will only earn us embarrassment in the comity of nations. There seems to be some personal vendetta going on.
It is pertinent to note that in missing persons case, Supreme Court summoned DG ISI & DG MI. None of the Generals appeared. The Court could not dare to roar!!! The case of poor civilians is, of course, very different.
what is the use of education which is used to protect criminals?
Mr. Aitzaz only cares money.
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