Court’s letter-writing process challenged

Petition says orders amount to revisiting a concluded judgment.

ISLAMABAD:

In another sign that the executive-judiciary bonhomie on the Swiss letter appears to have been short-lived, the government on Tuesday challenged the apex court on the process of drafting and sending the communiqué.

The move came after weeks of extensive consultations on several drafts of the letter, some behind closed doors – and a day before the fourth deadline set by the court for writing to Swiss authorities to seek the revival of graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Last month, after years of sparring, the executive and the judiciary deadlock saw a breakthrough when Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf agreed to write the letter, and assigned the task to Law Minister Farooq H Naek.

Stepping beyond jurisdiction

The government, through a petition from the attorney general’s office, said the court was stepping beyond its jurisdiction by demanding a four-step letter writing process. On September 18, the court had sought four steps in the process to implement its verdict in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case: first, an authorisation letter issued to the law minister, tasking him to write the letter; second, a draft of the letter to be cleared by the Supreme Court after a review; third, deciding the mode of sending the letter, either by a special messenger or courier; and fourth, submitting a receipt to the Supreme Court, confirming that the letter has been sent to Swiss authorities in Geneva.

Revisiting the final
judgment

“The narration of certain steps in the order dated September 18, 2012, and monitoring the same, amount to revisit of para 178 of the (NRO) judgment,” read the petition filed today by the attorney-general’s office on behalf of the federation. The petition sought a review of the court order.

The petition said that, through the NRO judgment, the court had only directed the federal government to take immediate steps to seek revival of the cases. The implementation bench cannot go beyond a concluded and final judgment, or revisit the same, even with the consent of parties, the petition held.

If some change is necessary, the court could send back the same to the original court, it added. The petition stated that it is ‘a sincere desire’ of the federal government to resolve the issue in a manner which upholds the dignity of the court, with the resolution of the constitutional and legal concerns of the government of Pakistan.

Avert proceedings

The law minister has a new draft of the letter, but the move from the attorney-general’s office to challenge the court’s proceedings is surprising for legal experts.

Sources said there is a fear that the letter will be a cause of embarrassment, not only for the ruling party, but also its co-chairperson, President Asif Ali Zardari.

The court could accept the last submitted draft of the letter, but the aim of the present move is to avert proceedings, sources added.

A similar application filed by Attorney-General Irfan Qadir on behalf of the federation, wherein he challenged the court’s decision to summon the prime minister and initiate contempt proceedings against him, is pending before the same bench.

The next hearing of the NRO implementation case is scheduled for Wednesday (today).

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2012.