Contempt charge against Prime Minister withdrawn
By: Nasir Iqbal
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has reasons to be happy because the Supreme Court has let him off the hook and withdrawn a contempt charge against him in the NRO implementation case after the letter he was asked to write to Swiss authorities finally reached Switzerland.
But his predecessor, Yousuf Raza Gilani, may be feeling frustrated and cornered because Wednesday’s court proceedings in the NRO implementation case appear to suggest that the noose is being tightened around him.
A five-judge bench headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali was not at all happy with the National Accountability Bureau trying to absolve Mr Gilani of the charge of appointing a convict and NRO beneficiary, Adnan A. Khawaja, as managing director of OGDCL on Sept 7, 2010.
The former prime minister, who was disqualified by the apex court for not implementing the NRO judgment, is accused of issuing verbal orders to appoint his jail buddy (Khawaja) to the lucrative post.
“I have gathered an impression from today’s hearing as if the court is not in a mood to forgive Mr Gilani for not implementing the NRO judgment,” commented Advocate Chaudhry Faisal Hussain after the hearing.
“The Supreme Court which is a constitutional or legal court has fast assumed the role of a popular court only because of the space provided by the present government due to mismanagement, inefficiency and rampant corruption,” former SCBA president Tariq Mehmood said.
But, he said, he believed that the pressure to end corruption should come from the people at the helm of affairs, and not from courts.
Prosecutor General K.K. Agha informed the court that a reference against Adnan Khawaja had been withdrawn because no criminal intent or loss of public money could be established. Though, he said, references had been filed against three bureaucrats, including former establishment secretary Ismail Qureshi, for following the orders.
“You are keeping away the main culprit of the offence, but the court has to make it sure that everybody is treated equally,” Justice Jamali said, adding that it was not an ordinary case; here the highest office of the country was involved in the offence of malpractice – a case that would set an example in future.
“You (prosecutor general) are saying that the person who ordered the appointment had no criminal intent but those who simply carried out the directions had the criminal intent,” said Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, a member of the bench.
“See the issue is much bigger. The biggest malady is the way political masters exercise their discretion and the way bureaucrats simply carry out the orders,” he observed.
The court said it had to examine all aspects of the case against the backdrop of recent developments like the judgments in the Asghar Khan and Anita Turab cases. The verdicts held that government officers were liable to be prosecuted for obeying illegal orders.
Mr Agha assured the court that he would refer the case of Khawaja to the NAB’s executive board for reconsideration in the light of observations made by the court.
BENCH COMPOSITION: The changing of the bench was also subject of discussions in legal circles. A number of lawyers were surprised over the move and were seen asking questions why its composition had been changed.
Earlier, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa used to head the five-judge bench whose members Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Athar Saeed have been replaced by two senior judges. Justice Gulzar now sits with the chief justice in the courtroom No. 1.
The bench headed by Justice Jamali now comprises Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Khosa, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry.
SWISS LETTER: At the outset of the hearing on Wednesday, a beaming Law Minister Farooq H. Naek informed the bench that the letter written in compliance with the court’s order had been handed over to the attorney general of Geneva by the Pakistani ambassador in Berne, Switzerland.
The letter seeks revival a $60 million graft case also involving President Asif Ali Zardari.
“We have fully complied with the court orders in the NRO case and the letter has been written to the Swiss authorities by the government of Pakistan,” the law minister said and requested the court to discharge the contempt notice against the prime minister.
The court in its order said that all it directives had been complied with and relevant material containing copy of the letter, its receipt and approval of the prime minister to finally dispatch the letter had been placed on record that showed complete compliance of paragraph 178 of the NRO judgment.
“Since the compliance has been made, the notice against the prime minister is discharged and further proceeding against the government is withdrawn,” said the order dictated by Justice Jamali.
Soon after the verdict, the law minister told reporters that the government did not want any confrontation with institutions.
“Whenever the court issues orders, we comply with it. We want democracy to thrive in the country and do not want it derailed,” he said but explained that corruption cases would not be revived in Swiss courts after the letter since no case was pending before any. Investigations were conducted in 1997 that too were later closed, he said.
MALIK QAYYUM: K.K. Agha also assured the court that he would advise NAB, which had closed a reference against former attorney general Malik Muhammad Qayyum, to reconsider its decision in the light of judgments in the Asghar Khan and Anita Turab cases.
Malik Qayyum is facing allegations of writing a letter in May 22, 2008, to the attorney general of Geneva withdrawing the requests for mutual legal assistance, surrendering the status of civil party and abandoning the claim to the allegedly laundered money lying in Switzerland.
” 
” 
” 
” 
” 
