NRO review: Govt hires former law minister
Government hires former law minister Dr Khalid Ranjha to argue its case before the Supreme Court.
ISLAMABAD:
With the review petition against the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) verdict being admitted for hearing from Monday, the government has hired former law minister Dr Khalid Ranjha to argue its case before the Supreme Court.
The government made the surprise move on Saturday, a day after the chief justice constituted a seventeen-member bench of the Supreme Court to take up the NRO review case.
Ranjha will raise various issues which were not addressed in the detailed NRO judgment. The government will also seek the court’s permission to change its lawyer.
“I will represent the federation for the NRO review if the court permits,” Ranjha told The Express Tribune. “I am already representing some prosecutors of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in this case.”
Legal experts believe that the change of lawyer likely to create complications for the government since the Supreme Court’s rules do not permit it.
“I will not appear to argue for the NRO’s review under any circumstances even if I am requested by President Asif Ali Zardari,” said Kamal Azfar, who represented the federation in NRO cases last year. “The chief justice asked me to appear before the court on Monday. I will therefore obey his order.”
Advocate on Record, Raja Abdul Ghafoor said he would not file the application for a change of lawyer because the chief justice had passed an order in his chamber that the apex court considers Kamal Azfar’s as the government’s representative in the NRO’s review case in accordance with the Supreme Court’s rules.
“How can I bypass the court’s order and file an application for a change of advocate on behalf of the law ministry?” he asked.
Ranjha will replace Latif Khosa who was representing the federation in the NRO’s review case, before his appointment as Governor Punjab. Law Minister Babar Awan selected Ranjha after a meeting with him and Secretary Law Masood Chishti in which they agreed to contest the case with the assistance of constitutional experts including Attorney General Anwarul Haq.
The records of all the NRO cases are being thoroughly scrutinised. The Law and Justice Division of the ministry is in the process of determining their status,” a senior official told The Express Tribune. All provinces in their written replies informed the Law Ministry that not a single case was dropped under the NRO in any court, he added.
The ministry after a suo motu notice by the chief justice wrote to the Sindh government for clarification, “How is it possible that no case was closed under the NRO when it is on record that more than 7,000 cases were dropped in this province?”
The Supreme Court declared the NRO unconstitutional on December 16, 2009. Former president Pervez Musharraf had promulgated the ordinance to whitewash the corruption committed by thousands of politicians and bureaucrats. Law Secretary Masood Chishti had petitioned the Supreme Court to review its decision on the NRO last year.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2011.
With the review petition against the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) verdict being admitted for hearing from Monday, the government has hired former law minister Dr Khalid Ranjha to argue its case before the Supreme Court.
The government made the surprise move on Saturday, a day after the chief justice constituted a seventeen-member bench of the Supreme Court to take up the NRO review case.
Ranjha will raise various issues which were not addressed in the detailed NRO judgment. The government will also seek the court’s permission to change its lawyer.
“I will represent the federation for the NRO review if the court permits,” Ranjha told The Express Tribune. “I am already representing some prosecutors of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in this case.”
Legal experts believe that the change of lawyer likely to create complications for the government since the Supreme Court’s rules do not permit it.
“I will not appear to argue for the NRO’s review under any circumstances even if I am requested by President Asif Ali Zardari,” said Kamal Azfar, who represented the federation in NRO cases last year. “The chief justice asked me to appear before the court on Monday. I will therefore obey his order.”
Advocate on Record, Raja Abdul Ghafoor said he would not file the application for a change of lawyer because the chief justice had passed an order in his chamber that the apex court considers Kamal Azfar’s as the government’s representative in the NRO’s review case in accordance with the Supreme Court’s rules.
“How can I bypass the court’s order and file an application for a change of advocate on behalf of the law ministry?” he asked.
Ranjha will replace Latif Khosa who was representing the federation in the NRO’s review case, before his appointment as Governor Punjab. Law Minister Babar Awan selected Ranjha after a meeting with him and Secretary Law Masood Chishti in which they agreed to contest the case with the assistance of constitutional experts including Attorney General Anwarul Haq.
The records of all the NRO cases are being thoroughly scrutinised. The Law and Justice Division of the ministry is in the process of determining their status,” a senior official told The Express Tribune. All provinces in their written replies informed the Law Ministry that not a single case was dropped under the NRO in any court, he added.
The ministry after a suo motu notice by the chief justice wrote to the Sindh government for clarification, “How is it possible that no case was closed under the NRO when it is on record that more than 7,000 cases were dropped in this province?”
The Supreme Court declared the NRO unconstitutional on December 16, 2009. Former president Pervez Musharraf had promulgated the ordinance to whitewash the corruption committed by thousands of politicians and bureaucrats. Law Secretary Masood Chishti had petitioned the Supreme Court to review its decision on the NRO last year.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2011.