New Zardari strategy to confront SC on Swiss cases

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered his legal team to take a new position in the Supreme Court on his Swiss accounts —- that there is, and never was, any case registered against him so the question of reopening any case does not arise.

The government’s legal team — the attorney general, his deputy and the acting federal law secretary — will explain before the Supreme Court on Thursday why the government considered that there are no Swiss cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and so the letter to reopen cannot be written.

When asked about the government strategy, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told The News that the Law Ministry was the right forum to answer this question, as his comments would be misunderstood.

In the meantime, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Navid Ahsan, who has also been summoned by the apex court, has prepared his answers to possible questions that the Supreme Court may ask, an official told The News.

Another official said that after the resignation of Law Secretary Justice ® Aqil Mirza, Senior Joint Secretary Sultan Shah was working in his place and was likely to appear before the apex court.

He said that a number of meetings attended by Law Minister Babar Awan, Attorney General Justice ® Maulvi Anwarul Haq, Additional Attorney General K K Agha and senior Law Ministry officials have been held in the last one week to clinch the government strategy to be adopted in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

“The strategy has been prepared in the light of guidelines given by President Asif Ali Zardari,” the official said. “Its main element is to stress the theme that no cases could be revived against the president because these never existed and additionally Zardari enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution under Article 248 of the Constitution.”

During last week’s hearing on the implementation of the Dec 16, 2009 judgment of the Supreme Court against the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), a five-member bench expressed its utter disappointment when the attorney general told it that the Swiss cases were a closed chapter.

The annoyed justices called the law secretary and the NAB chairman to explain as to why their ruling is not being enforced. On its part, the NAB chief’s report to be submitted to the apex court will contain steps taken for fulfillment of the Supreme Court judgment, the official said and added that newly appointed Prosecutor General Irfan Qadir would assist the chairman during the proceedings.

He said that as far as the NAB was concerned it has fully carried out the court ruling. On the court order its chairman had even written letters to the Swiss authorities although these proved to be of no consequence, he said.

The official said there was no coordination between the Law Ministry and the NAB about the stands that they would take in the Supreme Court. He said that not only President Zardari but also the law minister wanted the NAB chairman to be relieved by accepting the resignation that Navid Ahsan tendered to the prime minister some time back.

Both Zardari and Babar Awan feel that the NAB chief would further embarrass them as well as the government in the Supreme Court, the official said. However, a NAB official interpreted as “clearance” of Navid Ahsan by the Supreme Court when it asked him to cancel his leave and join his duty although it had recommended his removal in its Dec 16 decision.

According to the official, although the NAB chief had stepped down to save himself from constant severe drubbing by the apex court before he finally wrote letters to Switzerland, he now wants to continue in his office seeing that he now does not have to answer much to the Supreme Court.

Asked about Zardari’s reaction to the court proceedings on implementation of the NRO verdict, a senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader told The News on condition of anonymity that the president had given clear instructions not to be provoked to an extent where a confrontation between the government and the superior judiciary takes place. “Some people want a collision between the executive and the judiciary,” he said.

Advisor to the prime minister on information technology and former attorney general Senator Latif Khosa recently told this correspondent that no cases ever existed or were instituted against Benazir Bhutto, President Asif Ali Zardari and others in Switzerland. “Just an investigative process was launched against them that found no criminology. Therefore, no question of reopening them arises,” he said.