News
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Awan to apprise SC why govt won’t write letter to Swiss authorities* Minister unlikely to cite Article 248(2) as part of strategy to get through NRO issue unharmed
* Contingency plan chalked out to save Awan from contempt proceedingsBy Muhammad Akram
LAHORE: Federal Law Minister Babar Awan is all set to submit before the Supreme Court that the government doesn’t deem it fit under the constitution to write to the Swiss authorities to reopen cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, sources in the ministry told Daily Times on Wednesday.
The sources said the law minister would also reiterate his ministry’s earlier stance through a written application by the law secretary that the chapter of the Swiss cases had been closed and there was no need to revive mutual legal assistance to probe the money laundering cases.
The full SC bench, constituted to oversee the implementation of the court’s judgement on the National Reconciliation Ordinance, had summoned Awan in its last hearing on May 14, following an application submitted to it that there was no need for the law secretary’s appearance as he had already resigned from office citing medical reasons.
Upon this, the head of the five-member bench, Justice Nasirul Mulk, had observed that the time had come to summon the law minister to inform the court about the implementation of its NRO verdict issued on December 16, 2009.
A day before the last hearing of the case on May 14, the bench had summoned then law secretary Justice (r) Aqil Mirza, who failed to appear due to health reasons.
Strategy: The sources said the law minister did not intend to cite Article 248(2) of the constitution as part of his ministry’s strategy to get through the NRO issue unharmed. They said the article is self-explanatory and the superior courts had in the past either refused to entertain petitions or heard only preliminary arguments on the maintainability of the same before dismissing them on the grounds that the president enjoys immunity and cannot be questioned until he held office.
The sources, however, said it’s a well thought-out strategy of the government to not raise the president’s immunity and leave it up to the court to either take up Article 248(2) for judicial review or not. The sources also said the Law Ministry had sought advice of several constitutional experts on this point and the government is convinced by the advice so far received that the SC may opt for a judicial review of the said article and it would be better if it took up the issue on its own.
The sources said Babar Awan would not go beyond the aforementioned submission and if pressed hard – as being anticipated in government and legal circles – would politely refuse the court’s directions to write to the Swiss authorities for reopening the cases. The minister may choose to submit that writing a letter is tantamount to abrogating the constitution, which none of the government members can dare to commit.
Contingency plan: Sources in the PPP informed that a contingency plan has also been chalked out to save Awan from contempt of court proceedings or a sentence he may be awarded after refusing to write to the Swiss authorities.
The sources said the government had already expressed it clearly that it will protect its ministers from ‘unwarranted’ court sentences by invoking Article 45 of the constitution as it did in the case of Interior Minister Rehman Malik. The party source also said if it’s the right of the court to announce a sentence, then it is the president’s constitutional right to pardon.
Law Ministry sources said the contingency plan had been devised to save the government from possible embarrassment by the handcuffing of any of its ministers. The sources said Malik may have been handcuffed had he been in Punjab and at the LHC at the time the verdict was pronounced to uphold the sentence awarded to him.
The sources said it is being feared that Awan may be made to face a Rehman Malik-like situation on May 25 when he appears before the court. They said it is highly likely that the president may invoke Article 45 again to save Awan from being held if sentenced on contempt charges.
The sources said the law minister, who is a Supreme Court lawyer as well, may also choose to ask the court at an opportune moment to dispel the increasing impression in the government and legal circles that only PPP-specific petitions are being entertained quickly. He would also argue – if the situation demands – that out of more than 8,000 NRO cases, only those involving PPP members are being taken for adjudication.
The sources added that it is also likely that the minister may reiterate the demand recently made public by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani that the architect of the NRO may be summoned in the court alongside the alleged beneficiary.
They said the minister has been suggested to stay humble in the court and avoid political rhetoric that he is known for like his much-publicised statement that “Swiss cases will be reopened over my dead body”. He has also been advised to follow the party tradition of showing respect to the courts.
They sources said that he has also been told that it would be least expected of him to adopt a path contrary to that of late Benazir Bhutto who respected the courts despite the fact they made her a shuttlecock in the pursuance of justice in the politically-motivated cases admittedly concocted against her and other party leaders by the Nawaz Sharif regime from 1997-1999.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk