The court is hearing the government’s petition seeking a review of the court’s verdict on the National Reconciliation Ordinance. However, on Monday, the 17-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry adjourned proceedings till Wednesday after the death of a senior lawyer.
But in the statement filed before the court, Azfar set out his reasons for seeking a review. “This order is contrary to article 13(A) of the constitution and the generally accepted principle of law that states no man can be prosecuted more than once for the same offense.” Azfar also said that NRO beneficiaries were neither served notices nor given an opportunity to explain themselves and that conviction in absentia had no standing in Pakistan’s criminal law system.
“The NRO was a validly made law and it cannot be said to be a result of a deal between the PPP and General Pervez Musharraf or between two individuals; it was a consensus law, which had the approval of government of the day and political parties,” read the statement.
Azfar also said that while no lawful authority had allowed then attorney generals Chaudhry Muhammad Farooq and Malik Qayyum to contact the Swiss government, their initiatives were essentially right.
Regarding the status of Swiss cases against the president, the statement says there are no pending cases and an earlier investigation had been closed on merit by the Prosecutor General Geneva vide order dated 25.08.2008. As such, Azfar argued, no cases could be revived.
At the last hearing on May 25, Azfar had asked the court for time to study the relevant Swiss laws, at which the court had adjourned the hearing till June 7.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 8th, 2010.
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