News
Saturday, November 09, 2013
Swiss cases can’t reopen, government tells SCBy Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: Attorney General of Pakistan Muneer A Malik has told the Supreme Court that Swiss cases against former president Asif Ali Zardari could not be reopened due to them being time-barred.
A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, on Friday held a hearing on non-implementation of its judgement in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case. The chief justice inquired from the attorney general whether the federal government had filed an appeal regarding the reopening of Swiss cases against Zardari. The AGP replied that the matter is closed due to it being time-barred. However, the court said that not reopening the NRO case in Switzerland is a violation of its judgement.
The court asked why the government is still showing weakness and relying on the apex court for action against former law secretary Justice (r)Yasmin Abbasey for allegedly hushing up the Swiss cases against Zardari. The attorney general told the court that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had in July constituted a two-member inquiry committee comprising of Cabinet Division Secretary Sami Saeed and Intelligence Bureau Director General Aftab Sultan to investigate the missing record and documents regarding writing of a letter to the Swiss authorities for closure of graft cases against Zardari. The committee found that the former law secretary was directly responsible, he added. The chief justice observed that due to the conduct of the ex-law secretary the country had suffered a colossal loss, but the government was reluctant to take action against her.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk