Nothing but the letter!

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The Supreme Court appears in no mood for rhetoric. It is no mood to allow the government machinery fiddle over its directions and allow the rulers make a mockery of its stature any longer.
Delays will not be tolerated. Going in for the kill, the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a reply submitted by the attorney general of Pakistan on behalf of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and ordered the PM to write the elusive letter to Swiss authorities for reopening the graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and submit a response by July 25.
The five-Judge bench of Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Muhammad Athar Saeed spared no pain while declaring that in case of the prime minister’s failure to implement its directive, the court could “initiate any appropriate action” under the constitution and law against the chief executive. The order said laws applicable to former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani were also applicable to the new PM, Pervaiz Ashraf.
The bench said Prime Minister Ashraf was “bound to implement the relevant directions of this court”, just like his predecessor, whom the SC dismissed on contempt charges for refusing to obey its order. The seven-page order, authored by Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, said the judges were constrained to find it difficult to appreciate or accept the response of the PM.
Citing previous orders, Justice Khosa referred to Article 248 of the constitution regarding immunity issue and said the issue was irrelevant to the contempt of court proceedings against then PM.

The bench said the judgment of the court in the Gilani contempt case had already “attained finality” as it was “never challenged through any appeal or review”.
During the proceedings on Thursday, Attorney General Irfan Qadir apprised the bench in response to its order of June 27, that he had held a meeting with the prime minister, who said the matter had been taken up in the cabinet meeting held on Wednesday. Qadir said the cabinet had desired that the Law Ministry should furnish its views on the matter of implementation of the relevant paragraph of the SC judgment and once the ministry rendered its opinion, the cabinet would take a decision in accordance with provisions of the constitution. Legal wizards said the court order had left the clock ticking for the new prime minister, who might face a fate similar to Gilani’s. They opined that the court would not have to start contempt proceedings, as the previous proceedings of the court were not challenged by the government. Hamid Khan said the prime minister would be able to buy “some time” due to the proceedings. “I don’t see a decision coming on July 25 and the court may give some more time to the prime minister,” he said. Barrister Shahida Jamil said that the response submitted by the attorney general suggested that the government wanted to buy some more time, which might not be possible.

26 COMMENTS

  1. Can the stupid ppp leadership not find one single educated person who can write the letter? If they need my services I'll write it for them. I'll even teach them how to sign. The court didn't say it has to be in english. Maybe they can find someone who can write it in urdu and then have it translated in english. I can't believe there not one single lliterate person in the cabinet or in the entire ppp leadership who can write. If they can't write, I wonder if they can read. What do they do in cabinet meeting-draw pictures 🙂

  2. If they start writing letters,most all the PPP will be in jail starting with Zardari.Not once,not ever did I hear ONE PPP person say anything about Zardari being innocent or he did'nt do any of it,instaed They go straight to immunity,and now thanks to the new law,Zardari and his 40 chor will now rob the government and the people of Pakistan out in the open and in broad day light and according to them,there is nothing anyone can do.

    • @tikki. You are absolutely correct. zardari has never ever denied getting kickbacks and neither has the other ppp leadership. But then again, you can't trust this snake. He and his dead wife denied having anything to do with Surray Palace either and then claimed it to be theirs once the matter subsided. Any ppp worker who believes in zardari's innocent should be committed to mental hospital. The sad part is these people are alive and they walk among us.

      • Will you accept his denial if he does so? What s stopping him from denial? At least not the genuineness of corruption cases which are so vague and flimsy that he might not be afraid of. Do u hv a purely logical answer instead of superficial analysis that wud satisfy your wishes or thinking,but that may not be a reality.

        • @Musa Alvi. Is zardari known for being a truthful person? No. I won't believe him because he has lied way too many times. Its still interesting though that he has never denied. Maybe because if he does deny having ill gotten money in swiss banks, his statement could be used against him in court. That would be a strong reason to not deny and not make any statements about it. Is my answer logical enough? How about you? Do you have an answer why he has not denied? I would still like to know how he became a billionaire from selling movie tickets in black. If he is innocent, then why was he and his dead wife sentenced to six months in jail in switzerland? Why does he not go to court and prove his innocense? Its because he's guilty!!!

  3. SC has made this issue an item of their political agenda and CJ is giving very political statements, and PPP has adopted a political strategy. SC has no force at its command like army. So, if it s acting on political agenda, it has to do politics and politics is not their domain nor do they have training or experience in politics. Zardari is replying their political activism by his political maneuvers.

  4. HammadRana: It seems that you are Zardari man. You call this political maneuvers, this is pure stupidity. Zardari is a crook and you all follow this man to save his skin and forget about the dignity of your mother land. People like you have to live in Pakistan, while Zardari can run away to far off. He has enough money stashed away. What you have?

    • @Chocho, Your name suggests your mental capability. I am no one's man, but I am not blinded by hatred for a person. Is Nawaz not a crook? and why do u support a crook? Sasti Roti, LapTop, and waste of money on bridges rather than using it on Power projects shows that PMLN and Sharif brothers are bigger crooks. Country's economic problems originated from Nawaz first govt during 1990-1993. Zardari at least faced 12 yrs in jail and npt a single case proved and yet he faced imprisonment equal to his alleged crimes whereas all other crooks never faced jails such as bureaucrats and generals

      • Im sorry that there are people still so utterly blind that they have confined themselves & their mothers to a life of corruption & poverty. People such as HammadRana.

        There is no denying that Zardari & Nawaz are both corrupt. And this is our ONE greatest chance to make amends by selecting a leader who can bring a strong wind of change. A man that Imran Khan claims he is.

        I dont know how successful Imran is going to be & Allah knows he may end up being a bigger villian than Zardari however, he deserves a chance. He deserves an opportunity. He deserves to be heard.

        Lastly a prayer: Death to every jiyala.

  5. How does CJ thinks he can set the country in order when he has failed to tame and eradicate corruption in courts. Running the govt of Pakistan is a million times more difficult task?

  6. The SC under this CJ is aggressive now. Soon they will be mad alongwith some supporters.

  7. what else do you expect from a Punjabi Judiciary against a Sindhi defendant? biased to the core, it proves a subdued judiciary is better then an independent but biased judiciary.

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