SC likely to reopen NRO, 18th amendment cases this month

The cases were in process when the larger bench became depleted following the superannuation of some judges last year.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) is likely to take up two high-profile cases – the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and the 18th Amendment – by the end of this month when it will regain its strenght of 17 judges.

These cases were in the process when the larger bench became depleted following the superannuation of some judges last year. According to legal experts, acquiring the mandate is a legal requirement to restart these cases. Now, with the elevation of Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Amir Hani Muslim, the SC will achieve the mandate.

A senior official of the ministry of law and justice told The Express Tribune that as the SC fixes the NRO case, the federation will file an application seeking permission to engage a counsel to replace Sardar Latif Khosa. Khosa was representing President Asif Ali Zardari in the Swiss cases before replacing assassinated Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer last month.

“The federation is likely to seek the court’s permission to engage a new lawyer to plead the NRO review case in the SC as Barrister Kamal Azfar refused to represent it (government),” he said.

“I will not be appearing in the NRO case under any circumstances, even if I am requested by President Zardari,” said Kamal Azfar.

The parliamentary commission on appointment of judges has sent its recommendations to the prime minister for elevation of new judges in superior courts. President Zardari will soon approve these recommendations.

Attorney-General of Pakistan (AGP) Maulvi Anwarul Haq, who played a key role in bridging the judiciary-federation gap, was of the view that high-profile cases have kept him busy since months.

“All eyes will be on the cases of NRO review and the 18th Amendment, which are likely to be reopened by the SC at the end of this month or early next month,” senior lawyer Shah Khawar said.

According to State Law Minister Mehreen Anwar Raja, the law and justice division is monitoring NRO cases in the lower as well as superior courts under directions of the SC. “The records of all NRO cases is being scrutinised thoroughly,” Raja said.

The view was corroborated by Additional Law and Justice Secretary Malik Hakim Khan, who said that the NRO review case is likely to be taken up in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, all provinces in their written replies, available with The Express Tribune, informed the AGP’s office that “not a single case was dropped under the NRO in any court”.

However, the office sent Sindh’s reply back, asking it for a detailed response. “How could it be possible that no case was dropped under the NRO as more than 7,000 cases were dropped in this province,” the AGP’s office wrote to Sindh advocate-general.

Salman Akram Raja, a petitioner in the 18th Amendment case, was of the view that it was not yet clear from which stage the SC will start hearing the case. “After the interim order and the implementation of the 19th Amendment, facts about the case are not so obvious,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2011.