With the exception of a handful, an overwhelming majority of legal experts contend that the countdown of the premier’s possible disqualification as Member of the National Assembly would start after the expiry of the 30-day period given for filing of an appeal against the Supreme Court’s verdict.
The detailed verdict issued on Tuesday did not clarify the ambiguity regarding the fate of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani — some experts believe that it has added to the confusion which could lead to another legal battle.
The government feels Gilani’s disqualification is not an option given that neither the conviction falls under the case of moral turpitude which have a minimum of two years conviction, nor was the question of immunity addressed fully.
Most of the legal experts agree that Gilani has the right to file an appeal against his conviction within a 30-day period.
If an appeal is filed, the countdown period will expand further till the decision of such an appeal. If the appeal is rejected, the speaker of the National Assembly will have 30 days to send a reference to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for de-seating the premier within 90 days.
The detailed judgment, according to legal and constitutional experts did not give any new specific direction except explaining the short order issued on April 26.
However some legal experts think that the timeframe for the speaker to send the reference to the ECP had started the day the short order was issued. They were of the view that since it is a Supreme Court order, the speaker cannot overrule it.
Farogh Naseem
Constitutional lawyer Farogh Naseem said: “There is nothing new in the detailed judgment, except it is a longer order. It is clear that the PM is a convict but there is no clear directive that he is disqualified. It can be a matter of morality but legally he is not disqualified till the completion of the legal process.”
Hamid Khan
Supreme Court lawyer Hamid Khan was also of the view that the legal process would have to be completed before disqualifying Gilani as an MNA and subsequently as a prime minister. However, according to him the timeframe for the speaker to send the reference to the ECP had started the day the short order was issued. He said in case an appeal is filed, it will be up to the court to suspend the disqualification process.
Yaseen Azad
According to Supreme Court Bar Association President Yaseen Azad, the time period leading to the disqualification has started after issuance of the detailed verdict. In case the government goes for an appeal, this time will remain suspended till the decision of the appeal is made. “If the appeal is rejected, the timeframe will resume from the day of the rejection of the appeal. The government has 30 days to appeal,” he said.
Khalid Ranjha
Former law minister Khalid Ranja claimed that the court has thrown the ball in the direction of parliament because if the apex court wanted, it could have directly declared Gilani disqualified. “Legally speaking we have to wait till the finalisation of the appeal. Filing of an appeal is a matter of basic rights. The court could have clearly stated that Gilani is disqualified”.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2012.
COMMENTS (9)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1713853507-0/MalalaHilary-(2)1713853507-0-270x192.webp)
@Disco: I do not belong to any political party and neither sympathies with any institution, my sympathies are only with my beloved Pakistan. You seem to be a 'Pakistani highly educated person' (Phep). In any civilized and independent court, this case could not be taken by a lower court let alone be the highest court. And same was the case of 'Memogate' or inquiry into Osama Bin Laden and so on. An independent and fair justice system does not cherry-pick cases. Why not to open up treason cases against General Zia, Bhutto's murder caused by judiciary (I am not a fan of Bhutto). Why not open up cases against those judges who approved treason as legal. If not, then don't open a Pandora box filled with trash and snakes. We need to amend and straighten up control of military, justice system and ruling administration and give them boundaries to stay in Constitutionally and without infringing their influence on each other. This is high time that our military and justice system must get their boundaries and without any contradictions.
This is a country which has no rule of law and the ones who say they practice law I mean the lawyers are the biggest law breakers as they keep twisting the meaning of each and every clause thus giving thiefs, thugs and murderers an escape route. In this case Aitizaz Ehsan is the biggest culprit for trying to twist facts for the sake of one man and resultantly damaging the whole edifice of justice.
@AnisAqeel:
Stop crying about the court being 'vague' and 'clearing the smoke' if you don't understand the true implications of this case. The SC has prevented itself from becoming a target of these corrupt parliamentarians and in short has said: 'You are being led by a convict, do you have the moral standing to do something about it?'
If the court had clearly stated the PM is disqualified, PPP thugs would have cried foul and painted Gillani as a martyr. In short, the court has robbed Gillani of the opportunity to paint himself a martyr. A master stroke!
Nothing gonna happen, this is Pakistan and we are a Hopeless NATION !
Most of the lawyer and politician said that Gillani should be removed on moral basis rather than on legal basis. But the fact is there is no moral grounds in PAKISTAN POLITICS speciaaly in PPP. So stop these nonsense discussions.
Courts are supposed to be interpreting the implication of the constitution but our SC instead of clearing the smoke of a constitutional issue, they are adding to this smoke and in a vague political way. There is no issue but an issue of our own SC being vague and partial.
Pity the nation when judges do not decide, black and white ,and quote relevant sections of law supporting their decision. Judges have to uphold law not their whims and weird fantasies. Recorded evidenc of Clinton was released by committee of politicians exactly at same time when Clinton started his speech in UN, if any body remembers. This indicates that our judges are politicized.
The timing of the detailed judgement is incorrect. The SC should have waited for the PM to come back from his UK visit or may have issued the detailed verdict before he left.
Everyone big and small is telling each other that Prime Minister is DISQUALIFIED now. Why you all are in trouble and trauma. In fact even President and other ministers are DISQUALIFIED but no one has the power even CJ to remove them. They are POWERFUL in reality. Must admit it.