President Asif Ali Zardari—AP Photo
President Asif Ali Zardari. — Photo by AP/File

ISLAMABAD: The much-discussed letter in relation to the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case has been dispatched to authorities in Switzerland, DawnNews quoted the Pakistan Television as saying.

The Foreign Office had dispatched the letter, which was written in accordance with an order of the Supreme Court, on Nov 5.

The draft of the letter — seeking to reopen a graft case against President Asif Ali Zardari — constitutes the points upon which both the Supreme Court and Law Minister Farooq H Naek had reached a consensus.

The writing and sending of the letter would lead to an ease in the tensions between the state's two prime institutions.

Earlier, the government had contended that the letter could not be written as under the Constitution the president enjoyed immunity from prosecution.

On Oct 10, after more than 30 months into the NRO saga, the Supreme Court had approved the law ministry’s draft of the letter aimed at reopening the graft case against President Zardari.

The allegations against President Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts.

The Swiss shelved the case in 2008 when Zardari became president and the government continued insisting that the president had full immunity.

But in 2009 the Supreme Court overturned the NRO, a political amnesty that had frozen investigations into the president and other politicians, ordering that the cases be reopened.

Opinion

Editorial

Plugging the gap
06 May, 2024

Plugging the gap

IN Pakistan, bias begins at birth for the girl child as discriminatory norms, orthodox attitudes and poverty impede...
Terrains of dread
06 May, 2024

Terrains of dread

KARACHI, with its long history of crime, is well-acquainted with the menace. For some time now, it has witnessed...
Appointment rules
06 May, 2024

Appointment rules

IT appears that, despite years of wrangling over the issue, the country’s top legal minds remain unable to decide...
Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....