PM Nawaz Sharif has formed a two-member team to find out the reasons for the non-availability of the records of the letters written to Swiss authorities with the law ministry and to fix responsibility, says AG Malik. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD: The government’s top lawyer made some startling revelations about the infamous Swiss case in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The PPP-led government had written a letter to its lawyer in Geneva on November 22, last year, telling him to convey its stand to the Swiss authorities that the dormant graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari should not be reopened, Attorney General Munir A Malik told a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
The bench was hearing the case regarding the implementation of its ruling on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). In its December 2009 judgment, the court had nullified the NRO and ordered the reopening of all cases dropped under the defunct law introduced by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
The PPP government was reluctant to write a letter to the Swiss authorities seeking reopening of corruption cases against President Zardari. The reluctance cost the PPP one prime minister – Yousaf Raza Gilani – while its second premier – Raja Pervaiz Ashraf – narrowly escaped the wrath of the court after he agreed to write the Swiss letter in compliance with the court orders. Subsequently, the government wrote a letter to the Swiss authorities in consultation with the Supreme Court on November 5, 2012, seeking reopening of the cases against Zaradri.
However, AG Munir Malik told the court on Wednesday that “after the November 5 letter … requesting to withdraw the letter written by former attorney general Malik Abdul Qayyum for closing the [Swiss} cases, the government [also] wrote [another] letter on November 22 addressing advocate Dr Nicholas Jaanding, their lawyer in Geneva.”
In another letter written without informing the Supreme Court, the government urged the Swiss authorities that the order of the closing the cases by former attorney general Malik Abdul Qayyum on May 25, 2008 had attained finality and under Swiss laws cannot be reopened, AG Munir Malik said.
To the surprise of the bench, AG Munir Malik said the decision of the Swiss authorities was conveyed to the Pakistan government on February 4, 2013 but it was made available on the records on June 14, 2013 and that too after the incumbent government asked its ambassador in Geneva about the proceedings.
The ambassador informed the government that the Swiss lawyer had also conveyed the decision of Pakistani authorities to the Swiss government that the steps taken on the injunctions of the Supreme Court were essentially politically-motivated and in the eyes of the Republic of Pakistan the criminal procedure had been closed and could not be reopened, according to AG Munir Malik.
The attorney general further said that it was on June 14, 2013 that the incumbent government learnt that it could file an appeal against the decision of the Swiss authorities within 10 days.
“I received information about the refusal of Swiss authorities on the night of June 20, 2013 and was required to file [an] appeal by June 24. We have filed the appeal with the application to condone the few days delay,” AG Munir Malik told the bench.
He said that the incumbent premier, Nawaz Sharif, has formed a two-member team – comprising Cabinet Secretary Sami Saeed and Intelligence Bureau head Aftab Sultan – to find out the reasons for the non-availability of the records of the letters written to Swiss authorities with the law ministry and to fix responsibility.
After hearing AG Munir Malik’s arguments, the bench posed four questions: (1) why the November 22, 2012 letter was written, (2) why there is no record of the November 5, 2012 letter written in consultation with the Supreme Court, (3) who is responsible, and (4) whether any violation of the Supreme Court judgment had been made.
The bench asked the government to share the findings of the inquiry and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2013.
COMMENTS (3)
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@sgrr: a very very honourable retired judge indeed!
To write a letter or not, its a civil case, now the court has to decide whether it is contempt of court or fraud. The punishment to these charges is minimal as per the extant law. Moreover, it is interesting to note that no regular bureaucrate has signed the letter, it was signed by a retired honorable judge, hired as law secretary.
wow - what was civil bureaucracy up to during the political regime - playing mum.
another dent to the creditbility of GoP and Red Tappism of civil servants paid out of our taxes !