Presidential pardon: NAB summoned to submit case record
Malik says the president can commute any sentence.
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday summoned the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on April 28 to submit the record of references in Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s case for a petition challenging Malik’s presidential pardon.
The petition was filed by Imtiaz Rasheed Qureshi, the Save Judiciary Committee media coordinator, who requested the court to set aside the presidential pardon and restore Malik’s sentence.
Petitioner’s counsel, Barrister Farooq Hasan, said that the presidential reprieve could only be availed after the convict, or someone on his behalf, had exhausted all legal remedies prior to seeking the pardon. He submitted that it was mandatory for convicts to file an appeal in the Supreme Court (SC) first. In case, he said, the appeal was not heard in the apex court or the decision given by the court was not satisfactory, the convict could file an appeal with the president. He said that the minister had not approached the SC in this connection. Therefore, the presidential pardon was unlawful.
Earlier, Malik had filed a written reply to the petition in which he had said that the Law Ministry had moved the summary for his pardon to Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, which was accepted and forwarded to the president. He said that Article 45 of the Constitution empowered the president to grant pardon, remit or commute any sentence passed by any court. He said the petition should be dismissed.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2011.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday summoned the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on April 28 to submit the record of references in Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s case for a petition challenging Malik’s presidential pardon.
The petition was filed by Imtiaz Rasheed Qureshi, the Save Judiciary Committee media coordinator, who requested the court to set aside the presidential pardon and restore Malik’s sentence.
Petitioner’s counsel, Barrister Farooq Hasan, said that the presidential reprieve could only be availed after the convict, or someone on his behalf, had exhausted all legal remedies prior to seeking the pardon. He submitted that it was mandatory for convicts to file an appeal in the Supreme Court (SC) first. In case, he said, the appeal was not heard in the apex court or the decision given by the court was not satisfactory, the convict could file an appeal with the president. He said that the minister had not approached the SC in this connection. Therefore, the presidential pardon was unlawful.
Earlier, Malik had filed a written reply to the petition in which he had said that the Law Ministry had moved the summary for his pardon to Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, which was accepted and forwarded to the president. He said that Article 45 of the Constitution empowered the president to grant pardon, remit or commute any sentence passed by any court. He said the petition should be dismissed.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2011.