The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the draft of Swiss letter for a third time and put off the hearing until October 10, giving another reprieve to honey-tongued Law Minister Farooq H Naik by accepting his request for a “short adjournment” in the NRO implementation case.
A five-judge special bench of Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Athar Saeed took up the implementation of its directive contained in the para 178 of the NRO judgment.
However, despite the adjournment, the law minister told the court he could not make a “commitment” whether he would be able to convince the prime minister and other authorities on the content of the Swiss letter as per the direction of the court.
At the onset of proceedings, the minister submitted the draft letter with the court that would be sent by the government of Pakistan to Attorney-General’s office in Geneva.
The bench for a short period retired to chamber to consider the contents of the letter. After re-assembling, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa told the law minister that as far as other paras of the letters were concerned, they were in accordance with the directive contained in para 178 of the said judgment.
However, he shared concerns of the bench over the last paragraph, containing that the president enjoyed international and domestic immunity under Article 248 of the constitution and UN charter. Justice Khosa observed that they were conscious of the fact that it was a long journey and efforts made so far to resolve the issue should not go waste. “We don’t want the entire exercise go waste. The issue could not have been resolved if such efforts were not made.
We are few inches away from a perfect solution which holds the dignity of courts,” he added.
Naik said it was good for the system and made request for two things, i.e.; adjournment for a short period and a brief audience in the chambers so that he could apprise the members of the bench about certain sensitive aspects of the draft.
He said he would also require time to consult the prime minister and address certain aspects. Justice Khosa said they were also conscious of the transparency and sensitivity involved in the matter.
Naik replied that he was not a private party but representing the government.
Justice Khosa remarked that they had travelled a long way and they were quite reluctant to meet in chambers, but as the issue was close to its resolution, they were giving another chance.
The bench then retired to the chamber once more and after re-assembling dictated its order. The bench observed in its order that some aspects of the draft required to be addressed by the government and the law minister wanted to consult the prime minister on the subject so as to produce an improved version of the draft, if any.
The bench said that in the larger interest of justice and for a proper resolution of the long standing issue, the hearing was being adjourned until October 10 as requested by the law minister. The law minister, however, made it clear that he was not committing anything to the court.
