ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed the hope that the incumbent Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf would not repeat the mistake committed by former premier Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani by not implementing the court order in the NRO case and gave him two weeks to decide if he would write the Swiss letter.
The court directed the attorney general to seek instructions from Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf about whether he was going to implement the court order on writing a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
A three-member bench of the apex court comprising Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, and Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh was hearing the NRO implementation case as a suo moto case.
The court directed Attorney General Irfan Qadir to consult the prime minister and submit a reply on his behalf by July 12.“As far as non-implementation of para 178 of the judegment in the Dr Mubashir Hassan case is concerned, the former prime minister was tried, convicted and sentenced and as a consequence lost his membership of parliament,” the court ruled in its interim order.
“The new prime minister was elected last week and we trust him to implement the decision of the court,” the court further ruled, and directed Attorney General Irfan Qadir to seek instructions from the prime minister and submit his reply by July 12.
Earlier during the proceedings, the court also reviewed the matter of the appointment of Adnan Khwaja as Chairman OGDCL and Ahmad Riaz Sheikh as Additional Director FIA by former prime minister Gilani.
Dr Basit, their counsel, however, argued that his clients had paid the price and pleaded that the bench should declare today the last day of the case.The court, however, rejected the plea of the counsel and observed that their cases could not be removed until the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) files its report before the court.
Wasim Sajjad, counsel for former Attorney General Malik Qayyum, appeared before the court and contended that his client is under treatment abroad and sought adjournment till his recovery.
Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing till July 12, seeking a reply from the incumbent prime minister regarding implementation of its earlier order on the NRO.It is pertinent to mention here that after being elected prime minister, in a statement Raja Ashraf reportedly said that there was no change in his policy on the Swiss letter and it would be the same as that of the former prime minister.
Earlier, on March 8, the court had directed former Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani to write a letter to the Swiss authorities for reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, regardless of the advice, and submit a report on March 21.
Mr Gilani however defied the court’s order and asked the court to take up the instant matter after the final decision on the contempt of court proceedings. Finally, on June 19, the country’s highest court disqualified Mr Gilani from the office of prime minister as well as from being a member of parliament.