Sticking to its demand of compliance with its December 16, 2009, judgement in the NRO case, the Supreme Court sought a reply from the newly elected prime minister on non-implementation of para 178 of the NRO judgement regarding the writing of a letter to Swiss authorities. A three-member bench headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk and comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed on Wednesday, resuming the hearing of the non-implementation of NRO judgement, asked Attorney General of Pakistan Irfan Qadir to get instructions from the prime minister regarding the implementation of para 178 of NRO judgement and inform the court on the next hearing of the case, on July 12.
The court in the order said that in view of the non-implementation of the NRO judgement, a show-cause notice was issued to the ex-prime minister and contempt of court proceedings were initiated against him. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced and resultantly was not only disqualified from the membership of National Assembly but had to quit his post. The court hoped that the newly elected prime minister would comply with the apex court’s order and write to the Swiss authorities for reopening cases against NRO beneficiaries, including President Zardari. The move indicates that the judiciary is unwilling to end a showdown with the government that could force elections before February 2013, when the administration would become the first in Pakistan to complete a full five-year mandate.
Dr Basit, counsel for former high-up of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Ahmed Riaz Sheikh and Oil and Gas Development Corporation Limited former managing director Adnan Khwaja, was also present in the court. Dr Basit told the Supreme Court that both of his clients have been dismissed from their posts and they have also paid the fines imposed on them. Given that the Supreme Court should order it to be the last day of the court proceeding, Dr Basit noted. At this Justice Nasirul Mulk said the case could not be concluded in the absence of the lawyer of National Accountability Bureau (NAB). staff report/agencies
0 comments:
Post a Comment