Bench directs ex-PM to file a new review petition within seven days.
If former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani wants to stand in the upcoming general elections, he has one hurdle left to clear. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court asked him to challenge the verdict of a seven-member bench that convicted him in a contempt of court case if he wanted a clean chit for elections.
“As you have challenged the three-member bench order about disqualification in person, you are therefore advised to first challenge the conviction that led to your disqualification,” said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heading a three-member bench.
Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed directed Gilani to file a fresh a review petition challenging his conviction within seven days, adding that a seven-judge bench would be formed to hear it.
Gilani contended that he was disqualified for five years for an act which was not personal, while the stigma suffered by him was personal and likely to ruin his political career. He added that he had never received a notice of contempt in the past and would never think of committing contempt of the apex court.
The former prime minister said he was convicted in a civil contempt of court case, where the ruling of the speaker of the National Assembly said that he was not disqualified following the conviction. He went on to say that law experts advised him not to review the conviction verdict.
When Gilani filed the review petition in February 2013, challenging the SC order from June 19, 2012, about his disqualification, he requested that the judgment be revisited in the interest of justice.
Challenging his disqualification, Gilani argued that when he was prime minister, he had restored Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as Chief Justice of Pakistan in March 2009, despite a strong lobby asking for the senior most judge to be named as chief justice instead. Gilani also clarified that he had stood up for the independence of the judiciary and the restoration of judges.
On April 26 last year, Gilani was convicted for not complying with court orders over writing a letter to Swiss authorities requesting the reopending of graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Instead of engaging the services of Aitzaz Ahsan, who contested his contempt case and disqualification matter, the former PM appeared in person before a three-member bench headed by the chief justice.
In his petition, he maintained that not writing the letter was an official act as chief executive, taken after a decision by the Cabinet and taking requisite legal advice. He added that he had never tried to ridicule the court’s orders.
He added that his opinion, whether right or wrong, was not a criminal act and therefore, should not have resulted in a conviction and consequent disqualification from being a member of Parliament.
Gilani stated that the incumbent Premier (Raja Pervaiz Ashraf) took a similar stand but at that time, there was a shift in the official policy of the prime minister and the government.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2013.
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