The government on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to withdraw orders for reopening corruption cases against the president in a legal wrangle that has already cost one prime minister his job. Earlier this month the apex court leveled a veiled threat to remove new Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf from office as well unless he agreed to pursue multimillion dollar graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. The judiciary has been trying for years to force the administration to write to the Swiss authorities to reopen investigations into corruption allegations dating back to the 1990s. Ashraf’s predecessor, Yousaf Raza Gilani, was thrown out of office on June 19 after the Supreme Court found him guilty of contempt because he refused to write to the Swiss, saying Zardari had immunity from prosecution as head of state. Judge Asif Saeed Khosa had ordered Ashraf to submit a report on July 25 “regarding compliance… failing which this court may initiate any appropriate action under the constitution and the law” — hinting that he too could be disqualified. But government lawyers struck a defiant posture on Tuesday, saying the administration could not carry out the court orders. “The prime minister cannot be asked by means of the aforesaid orders for implementation of an un-implementable direction given by the Supreme Court,” the government said in a written submission. It said the court orders ran contrary to the constitution, which granted immunity to Zardari against trial in any court while he was president. Attorney General Irfan Qadir, for the government, urged the court to recall the orders “to meet the end of justice”.
The judiciary has appeared unwilling to end a showdown with the coalition government which could force elections before February 2013 when it would become the first in Pakistan’s history to complete an elected, full five-year mandate.
Judges have said that Ashraf was “bound to implement the relevant directions of this court”, just like Gilani.
The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, are suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts.
In 2009 the court overturned a political amnesty that froze investigations into the president and other politicians, ordering that the cases be reopened.
However, the Supreme Court Registrar’s Office on Tuesday returned the federation’s reply submitted by the attorney general in the NRO case after objecting to the requests made in the reply. The court said that instead of submitting a reply, a plea needed to be filed to review the court’s orders. The federal government submitted in its reply in the NRO case that the cabinet was yet to make a decision to write the letter to Swiss authorities. The reply further stated that the prime minister was constitutionally bound to the advice of the cabinet; therefore the court should review its ruling of July 12. The attorney general said the option of contempt of court against the new prime minister was now over. The reply said that under Article 90 of the constitution, the advice of the federal cabinet was binding on the prime minister and the cabinet had not yet made a decision to write to the Swiss officials.
The reply further said that the seven-member bench on January 3, 2012 had no authority to amend the ruling of the seventeen-member bench and now option number two relating to the contempt of court was not applicable to the new prime minister, therefore, the court should review its July 12 verdict. The Supreme Court, however, declared inadmissible the government’s reply and returned its with objections. The court will resume hearing in the NRO implementation case today (Wednesday).
PRESIDENT CALLS MEETING: Following the development, President Asif Ali Zardari formally summoned a high-level meeting of top leaders of the party for today (Wednesday).
The meeting will be attended by Prime Minister Ashraf and senior members of the party, and will review overall political scenario, contempt of court case, Pak-US relations and tensions, while some key decisions are likely to be made as well.
I am no Piplia or Jialla and hatethe PPP leadership from my guts. But I equally hate this Thanna Muhrar (Chief Justice). If there is anyone who has destabilized the already fragile state's institutional infrastructure, it is this guy to whom you proudly call "My Lord" and I call him Thanna Muhrar.
1 cannot see how the situation has changed since the dismissal of the former PM. How can the S.C back down? 1 have no legal mind but the diagnosis is the same how can the treatment be different. H0w can the Govt. address the matters of state when the sword of democles is hanging over its neck. No wonder the streets of pakistan er burning.
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How is France handling the Sarkozy matter? Back in the 90's, how did US handle Clinton case?
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Things are a bit more civil out there and 'a government' is 'able to engage in state matters'. Won't you agree?
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The cost of a dysfunctional government is huge on a society. You can not be happy by simply garotting a bad guy. Let French revolution illuminate some mind …
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ppp keeps giving the SC a chance to dismiss the whole govt. Why aren't they taking advantage of it. Sack the pm and the cabinet. Hang them high. If each and every one of the ppp leaders die, it would be no loss to Pakistan. On the contrary, Pakistan can actually start making progress and maybe get back to where it was during Musharraf's time in ten more years. As long as ppp is around, the country will keep struggling. Jiayalas should not be allowed to breed. They produce an inferior class of people.
Please read my following comment.
Court has no right to dismiss the government under the constitution. Any such move by judges will be counter productive. Better judges stop playing politics. Their honor is in their own hand.
Your comments remind me of Hitlers ideology. P lease let me know the day you are going to commence holocost. After a lfe spent on treating patients from different cultures and different ethnicity i really wonder about the wiseness of such comments. Are you really serious or just attention seeking? I persume you have a very high 1.Q. Please have mercy on the less well endowed!
@Dr. M.M.Khan. The end justifies the means. Pakistan can ill afford to have the population growth that we have seen recently. Lets be real. Poor people have more children. More poor people belong to ppp than any other party. They are less educated therefore less productive and contribute less to the GDP of the country. They don't contribute to raising the living standard of the country. They drag it down. They are more inclined to commit crimes because they have less to lose if they get caught. They do it out of desparation. They are more likely to get jobs because of a "sifarish" than merit.The cost to try to educate their dozens of children is a drain on the treasury. They make roads more hazardous because they make roads more crowded. Roads are for cars, not pedestrians. They become a safety hazard. If you do run over one of them, they demand 100 times more than what their entire family would earn in a lifetime. And they vote. This alone is a reason enough to contain their growth.
Let me put this way. I respect your point of view but humbly disagree. The end does not justify the means! What we need is public awareness of the facts you mentioned. I remember when Ayub was in power he introduced family planning–who opposed it? The Maulanas!
I remember also when Mrs .Gandhi was the PM ,she tried something similar ,she failed miserably and lost the election.
@ Dr M M Khan—- What this Govt is telling the SC is it won't write the letter, nor stop corruption, neither punish the corrupt and in the process if the economy has gone bust, declared as junk by Moodys so what, because A to Z does not live here, nor does his kids and neither his assets are located here.
@Dr M.M Khan, you seem to be a doctor of animals not human beings.
No Rubina,he is the quack quack one.
One should not at least get so personal.
Why did you delete my comment from here you cowards,afraid of a little truth and honesty.Oh thats right,you don't know what that is.You are the idiots who write all the cool and nice things about Zardari,he's your daddy,more like your sugar daddy,got all of you on the take huh boys.
Following is a news report from Daily times. Read it and decide yourself what is the standard of Current SC. A court which cannot decide a petition for 3 years regarding Samoosa price, our media and blind followers of "ANGEL" CJ are fooling us that this man will get rid of all the problems we are currently facing. By the way a petition filed in SC to decide Samoosa price,HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Our judges have become a serious competitors for the likes of Ammanullah ,Sakhawat Naaz,etc.
SC annuls samosa price notification
LAHORE: The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside a notification of the Punjab government whereby the price of one samosa was fixed at Rs 6.
A bench comprising Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Justice Asif Saeed Khosa allowed an appeal moved on behalf of Punjab Bakers and Sweets Federation President Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal. In the year 2009, the district government of Lahore had fixed price of one samosa at Rs 6 and magistrates imposed fine on shopkeepers selling samosas at higher rate. The notification was challenged in the Lahore High Court, which dismissed the petition. Then it was challenged in the Supreme Court. The petitioner’s counsel said the impugned notification was unwarranted by law as samosa was not an item notified under the Punjab Foodstuffs (Control) Act 1958 and that the provincial government could not fix its price. It is pertinent to mention here that since the filing of appeal three years back, the price of samosa has jumped to Rs 15 in the market. staff report
My worry is that if SC passes an order against the will of Zadari etc, who is going to implement that? the military is not at least ready to do this unpleasant job as what they are behaving in Balochistan. PPP says as along they have good number game they would continue to behave like that
In the contempt case against ex-PM Gillani, the government was too much apologetic, signaling weakness. Now it looks that this time the government will give strong message to the judiciary and has reiterated that 7- member bench has no authority to summon Prime Minister. There is also speculation that government will retaliate if the new contempt law legislated by parliament is struck down or another Prime minister is sacked. Anyhow, this reply and the recent statement of PM is a load and message to the trouble making judiciary. The confrontation perpetuated by Justice Iftikhar may console his disturbed mind but it is not at all in the interest of Pakistan which is facing grave problems of terrorism, sectarianism, energy crises and its poor people.
There was a time and good days when letters were sent via (through) Pigeons or if the location was not so far then it was attached with a kite. Now the world and technology has changed and PMs are asked to do this job for them. If no one is prepared to write the '' Wish"" of our CJ then whey he does not do the same. He is already creating history upon history through his home made verdicts.
And in reward for his services, he should be given yet another plot in Islamabad. Of course accountability is only meant for Politicians. Who will judge the judges? It’s simply a game of “interests” and reminds me of that famous line “Its all about Economics, stupid”. Talk about audit, accountability of judiciary- they will say we can not be made accountable but in their judgments they would love to mention “Khilafat Rashida” and Khalil Gibran. Try to investigate a serving or retired General for corruption charges, the whole institution will stand to support him in the name of “national interest” (NLC scam is just one recent example). Keep on giving them a hefty chunk out of the resources, keep them happy, let them do whatever they feel like, don’t ask them questions, let them take away whatever they desire for. This compromised approach will never work. All Democratic forces will have to join hands to get rid of these built in weaknesses, compromises of civilian authority and governance in Pakistan.
Writing a resume or cover letter is quite interesting and easy to do. We just need to write best letter for applying to a job.
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