A day before submitting a document of all witnesses and affidavits in the prime minister’s contempt case, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq on Wednesday said the submission will “not have a big impact” on the case.
Haq said the Supreme Court would decide the case on merit and his evidence was not very different from the documents presented during earlier hearings of the case.
“The court has asked me for assistance in the case because I was a deputy attorney general when former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was indicted with contempt charges,” said Haq.
“Coincidently, during this contempt case, I am serving as an attorney general,” he added.
The Supreme Court, in its last hearing, had asked Haq to file a document of all witnesses and affidavits by February 16. A seven-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, will take up the case on February 22.
When asked if he argues before the court in favour of Premier Gilani, the attorney general said that prosecutors in many cases do not go against the government.
The court gauges the issues on merit under the light of events and evidence, he added.
Legal experts say that former attorney general Anwar Mansoor Khan and former law secretary Aqil Mirza could be key witnesses in this case, but Haq, while talking to media outside the Supreme Court, said that in this case, witnesses have no significance.
“Therefore, I will submit relevant summaries and documents pertaining to implementation process of the court’s judgment in the National Reconciliation Ordinance,” he said.
Petition against Haq
A petition against Haq was filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday on grounds that being a subordinate of the prime minister, the attorney general will not say anything against him in the court.
The petitioner, Shahid Orakzai, maintained that the attorney general was appointed by the prime minister and thus should not be assisting the court in this case.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2012.
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