Islamabad: Pakistan’s combative Supreme Court on Wednesday summoned Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf to appear before it on August 27 to face possible contempt charges for failing to revive graft cases against the President, a move that could lead to his disqualification like his predecessor.
It issued a show cause notice to Ashraf on a charge of contempt and ordered him to personally appear before it to explain why action should not be taken against him for refusing to act on its orders to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
A five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa issued the notice under the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003 and Article 204 of the Constitution, which too relates to contempt of court.
It observed that the Premier should comply with the court’s repeated orders and approach Swiss authorities to reopen the cases against Zardari.
It said Ashraf should personally appear and explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.
Justice Khosa remarked it would be good if there is progress in the matter by the next hearing on August 27 or else the court would take action on its own.
The bench noted that the government had persistently and deliberately ignored its order to revive the graft cases.
The court pointed out that it had already issued an order when contempt of court proceedings were underway against former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani in which he was asked to disregard advice from the Law Ministry and approach the Swiss authorities without further consultations with legal experts.
The court said Gilani deliberately violated the court’s orders and did not approach the Swiss authorities, leading to his disqualification after being convicted of contempt. It observed that Ashraf was acting in the same manner.
Soon after the apex court issued its order, the government mounted a fresh challenge against some of the court’s recent rulings.
Government lawyer Abdul Shakoor Paracha filed a petition seeking a review of the apex court’s recent order that annulled a new Contempt of Court Act passed by Parliament to prevent Ashraf’s possible disqualification.
Attorney General Irfan Qadir filed a separate petition seeking a review of the court’s order of July 12 directing the Premier to revive the graft cases against the President.
The petition said the Premier had not received any legal advice to write a letter to Swiss authorities on the graft cases and that he was not bound to write such a letter.
It further contended that the Supreme Court’s orders in this regard were unlawful and any such letter would violate the constitutional provision on presidential immunity.
The government argued that if the apex court itself could not write the letter to the Swiss authorities, then it should not expect the Premier to do so.
Earlier, during the hearing, Qadir sought more time from the court and asked that the case be adjourned till the first week of September as it was of a “sensitive nature.”
The court denied his request and said he had been given adequate time.
The top leadership of the ruling PPP decided during a meeting on Tuesday that it would not approach the Swiss authorities to reopen the cases against the President.
It further decided that the government would “resist” actions by the Supreme Court while remaining within the ambit of the Constitution.
Ashraf became Premier when the apex court disqualified Gilani in June after convicting him of contempt for refusing to reopen the multi-million-dollar cases against Zardari.
The court has been pressuring the government to revive the cases since December 2009, when it struck down a graft amnesty that benefited Zardari and over 8,000 others.
The government has refused to act, saying the President enjoys immunity in Pakistan and abroad. (PTI)