Gilani refuses to write letter to Swiss authorities, again

Gilani mainta­ins in the reply that the Suprem­e Court prejud­iced the premie­r's rights to defend himsel­f.

ISLAMABAD:
Clearly refusing to write a letter to the Swiss authorities, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in his reply submitted in the contempt case against him on Monday, prayed to the Supreme Court to either refer the case to the parliament or consider its earlier option to leave the matter up to the judgment of the people.

Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan’s assistant Barrister Goher submitted Gilani’s 84-page reply in the Registrar Office of the Supreme Court. The premier maintained that the court had prejudiced his rights to defend himself.

Read the full reply here.

In the reply, Gilani also maintained his previous stance of not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities as President Asif Ali Zardari enjoys international immunity under the Constitution. He said that presenting the president before any foreign magistrate was a violation of the Constitution.

The premier maintained that once Zardari’s presidential tenure ends, the Supreme Court will not have any obstructions in carrying out proceedings against him.


Gilani gave two options to the Supreme Court and referred court’s earlier order of January 9, 2012. He said that the court could go ahead with one of the six options it gave earlier – to leave the matter up to the judgement of people, or refer the case to the parliament as it was done during the 18th amendment.

The Supreme Court will carry out its proceedings on March 21.

The premier was given an option to either submit written reply to the court on March 19 or appear before the court in person on March 21.

The Supreme Court demanded a compliance report by March 21 after the letter is written.

Prime Minister Gilani was served a contempt notice in the NRO implementation case when the government did not follow the court’s orders of writing a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

You can read the full text of his reply submitted in the Court here.
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