ISLAMABAD: Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, who is defending Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani against contempt charges, on Thursday described as a ‘nuclear blast’ the six options the Supreme Court had outlined on Jan 10 while taking to task the chief executive.
A seven-judge bench, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, hearing the contempt case, however, explained that the order giving the six options was warning shots to the prime minister for not implementing the judgment in the NRO case.
Barrister Ahsan said the options were not a warning but nuclear blasts that reflected the pre-trial mind of the court.
He said the onus for not implementing the NRO judgment was upon the law secretary and the attorney general, and not on the prime minister.
The court insisted that the prime minister was in complete picture and at the time of framing of the charge he knew why he was facing contempt proceedings.
The court asked the counsel to conclude his arguments by Friday, after which the newly appointed attorney general, Irfan Qadir, would commence his arguments.
The counsel read out option No 1 in which the court had stated that the buck for brazen and blatant failure or refusal of the federal government stopped at the office of the chief executive, arguing the court should have seen whether the buck had really reached that office.
He denied that former attorney general Maulvi Anwarul Haq had conveyed the court’s concern regarding implementation of the NRO verdict to the prime minister.
The former AG’s statement that he had conveyed the court’s instruction to the prime minister was not true and had not been recorded under oath contrary to a requirement in criminal cases, he said.
When the court was hearing a matter in which it could send someone to prison for six months then it would not take the statement of the former AG as evidence, he said. Had the ex-AG given the statement under oath, he could have cross-examined him, the counsel said.
He described as a second nuclear blast an observation that “apparent persistent, obstinate and contumacious resistance” or refusal of the chief executive to obey and carry out the court’s directives reflected that the prime minister might not be an “honest” person, saying he was honest to the oath of his office.
“Not nuclear but hydrogen blasts,” Justice Asif Saeed Khosa quipped.
“Kind of a cluster bomb, carpet bombing, rather a daisy cutter as the court wanted to flatten everything,” the counsel retorted.
“We have only shown but to used (these arsenals),” Justice Khosa observed but went on to explain that the court did not want to go to that extent and tried to convince in a polite manner, requested for putting up summaries before the prime minister for implementation of the judgment and even gave warning shots.“With utmost respect, the court can’t do that,” Barrister Ahsan shot back.
“We will do whatever we have to do,” Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany observed, adding it was not the court alone but also the counsel who, in fact, bore a heavier cross upon his shoulders for upholding the rule of law.
“Your cross is heavier than ours because we are answerable to God but you are the representative of 180 million people and accountable to each one of them,” Justice Khosa said.
“Till now the government is not accepting the reality that it has to write the letter to Swiss authorities to reopen the graft cases against the President,” Justice Ijaz said.
When the counsel said the letter could not be written as long as Asif Zardari was the President, Justice Ijaz said the present case would end then and there if the letter was written.
