Contempt of court case: SC raises objections over Gilani’s review petition

Former premier submitted application past deadline without security receipt.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court raised objections on Wednesday over a review petition filed by former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani against his disqualification in the contempt of court case.

Gilani filed the petition months after the deadline for filing such an application had passed – the apex court’s institution branch then raised several procedural objections and referred it to the competent authority for further action.

According to officials, the court has not taken a final decision in this regard. The decision is to be taken by the registrar’s office, and the likelihood is that the review petititon will be rejected.

It has been learnt that the SC office had raised over half a dozen objections and termed Gilani’s review petition incomplete, besides the fact that it was not filed within the prescribed period.

The office also objected that the security deposit was not paid along with the petition.Gilani was dismissed from parliament in June last year by the Supreme Court after it found him guilty in a contempt of court case for not implementing the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case verdict.

In the NRO decision, the court had directed the government in para 178 to revive graft cases in Swiss courts against President Asif Ali Zardari, while Gilani maintained that this was unconstitutional.

The review petititon has not been submitted through Gilani’s counsel, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, who represented the former premier in the contempt of court case. According to SC rules, only Ahsan may file a review petition for his client. Gilani has instead filed the review petition in his personal capacity.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2013.