Visibly moved by the government’s reconciliatory overtures, the Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted a plea by Law Minister Farooq H Naik seeking one-day adjournment in the hearing of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case.
A five-member bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Athar Saeed resumed the hearing on Tuesday. The bench was hearing the progress on a letter of authorization by the prime minister to the law minister, and a draft letter for withdrawing former attorney Malik Qayyum’s letter to the Swiss authorities as assured by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Asharf during his appearance on September 18.
During the proceedings, the law minister appeared before the bench and submitted the required documents before the bench, including a letter of authorization and a draft letter to be sent by the Government of Pakistan through attorney general to Geneva, Switzerland.
The bench raised objections on the draft’s contents. Justice Asif Khosa pointed out the difference in reference numbers mentioned in the letters written by Qayyum and the draft of the letter prepared by the government. He remarked that the draft should state the complete reference number.
After going through contents of both the documents, the bench told the law minister that they would re-assemble after some deliberations. After some time, the bench summoned the law minister to court chambers and after re-assembling again, adjourned the hearing until Wednesday (today) after Naek requested time to address certain issues which had emerged.
On the last hearing, the prime minister and the law minister appeared before the bench, and the premier authorized Naek to implement court’s direction in NRO judgment. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had underlined four steps required for the implementation of the court’s directives contained in para 178 of the NRO judgment. The four steps included the authorization, which should be produced in writing; a draft of the letter to meet the directive up to the satisfaction of the court; dispatch to and receipt by the relevant Swiss and other authorities; and confirmation of such receipt of communication by the Swiss authorities.
The bench had asked the government to take the first two steps and submit the required documents on Tuesday, September 25.