Pakistan had written a letter to Swiss authorities on the orders of Supreme Court. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD: A petition seeking contempt of court proceedings against former Secretary of Law Yasmin Abbasey has been filed in the Supreme Court (SC).
The matter has been pending before the apex court against the former secretary of law for writing a secret letter to the Swiss authorities requesting closure of cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The federation’s attorney Muneer A Malik told the court that the government was currently probing a matter related to the closure of cases against President Zardari, and particularly a secret letter written by former law secretary Abbasey in violation of Supreme Court’s letter that was dispatched to the Swiss authorities for revival of cases against President Zardari.
Last week, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had taken notice of the matter while hearing a case related to the implementation of one of the judgements passed by the apex court in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case.
The letter was written to Dr Nicholas Jeanding of law firm Fontanet Associes in Geneva by Yasmin Abbasey on November 22 last year against the Supreme Court’s letter.
The government got a written letter approved by the Supreme Court and sent it to the concerned authorities in Switzerland on November 5, 2012.
By sending a second letter to the Swiss authorities, the secretary of law had made the first letter invalid.
The attorney general told the court that the ministry of law had also destroyed all proof related to the second letter.
In February this year, Swiss authorities declined to reopen cases against President Zardari in response to the letter sent on November 22 and not the one sent on November 5.
Terming this action on the part of the secretary of law as contempt of court, the Chief Justice said the matter should be investigated.
The government has formed a committee to investigate the second letter.
Intelligence Bureau Chief Aftab Sultan and Secretary Cabinet Sami Saeed are currently probing the issue and will submit their report to the apex court.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Parliamentarians raised this issue in the parliament and asked the ruling N-League to not victimise the PPP leadership by probing the Swiss cases.
The incumbent interior minister Chaudhry Nisar countered PPP lawmakers’ move by suggesting to let the court decide the issue independently.
However, he said that his party would obey the courts’ orders and will not ignore such directions. He also suggested the PPP MPs to respect the system and prove their innocence before the courts.
Former law minister Farooq H Naek and his secretary Yasmin Abbasey could not be reached to clarify their positions over the second letter in the controversy.
COMMENTS (6)
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@Ricky: @Mirza: I think you are forgetting that the second letter was sent to nullify the first letter, which incidently was the official, authorized letter. How can attorney-client privileges be claimed for the 2nd letter when the 1st letter was discarded due to it?
@Ricky: If they return USD 60 million with compound interest in donot mind this confidential relationship. The letter is written in official capacity. Put name of all those involved on ECL incl accused.
@Ricky: Stop talking about attorney-client privileges which cannot be challenged in any court of law in all the countries. This is Pakistan where constitution and International laws mean nothing and are flouted regularly. I have to agree that a person's communication with the priest and attorney is never intruded in by any court of law. Cheers, M
@Ricky: Are you a constitutional attorney or just has some kind of degree like the former law minister Mr.Awan Babar had. Let the Supreme Court of Pakistan decide who did what and those responsible for violating the court's order and try to shield underhandedly a corrupt person sitting in the Presidential House, they should be bought to the court of law and if found guilty then maximum punishment should be in order regardless who they are.
The news states “The letter was written to Dr Nicholas Jeanding of law firm Fontanet Associes in Geneva by Yasmin Abbasey on November 22 last year against the Supreme Court’s letter.” Anybody can write anything they want to their own attorney and that is covered by attorney-client privilege. This correspondence cannot be challenged in any court of law. If the govt or any other person wrote to the Swiss court directly then that would be contempt of SC orders not writing to a private law firm.
How unfortunate to know that it was Yasmin Abbassi.