Letter to NA speaker is regular practice: SC

The govt had warned of bringing a privilege motion against the SC’s assistant registrar.

ISLAMABAD: A day after the government took exception to a letter written by the Supreme Court’s assistant registrar to the National Assembly speaker regarding the premier’s contempt case, the Supreme Court released a statement defending the move as “regular practice”.

In the letter, the NA speaker was purportedly directed to take action against Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in light of the Supreme Court verdict.

The apex court, however, clarified the move, saying it is regular practice under the Supreme Court Rules 1980 and “there is nothing improper in following this procedure”.

In a statement issued by the Supreme Court on Sunday, it said all court orders, without any exception, were forwarded to concerned authorities and departments for implementation and compliance.

Two orders were passed on April 26 by a seven-member bench in a contempt case against Prime Minister Gilani regarding the non-implementation of NRO judgment.

The statement said that the orders “were duly communicated to the concerned (including above-mentioned) authorities/departments for action/compliance”.

During a press conference on Saturday, Law Minister Farooq H Naek termed the letter written to NA Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza “illegal.” He said that the letter from the assistant registrar directing Mirza to take action against the premier was a blatant “violation” of the law.

“We will bring a privilege motion against the Supreme Court’s assistant registrar as the letter is illegal and a clear violation of the rules and procedures. He has directed the speaker to take action at the earliest which we believe is an offence to parliament,” Naek had stated.

He went on to say that the “parliament’s privilege has been disparaged by the letter directing the speaker to take action in the prime minister’s contempt case.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2012.