Latif Khosa to represent govt in NRO case today

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

ISLAMABAD – A 17-member larger bench of the Supreme Court will hear NRO non-implementation and review petitions today, but the government has failed to submit an appeal against a three-member bench’s order, which had declined to give more time to the government on NRO review petition.
According to the sources, Khosa would represent the government in place of Kamal Azfar. Khosa also met with President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday in Presidency. Senator Sardar Latif Khosa, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Information Technology, had resigned from his post earlier in the day and the PM accepted it immediately.
Sources in the Law Ministry told TheNation on Tuesday that frantic consultations were held between the Law Secretary and the Attorney General to finalise the appeal against the Supreme Court judgment of October 11, 2010. The meetings were held in Federal Minister for Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan’s office in the Law Ministry throughout the day and at the end of the meetings the Minister went to the President’s House for final advice. Meanwhile, Law Secretary Masood Chishti and Chief Solicitor Nasir Ali Shah remained busy in coordinating with Attorney General Maulvi Anwar-ul-Haq and Advocate on Record Raja Abdul Ghafoor.
The sources said that though the Attorney General and the Law Secretary remained in contact with each other, yet as for minor issues the Law Ministry officials had to consult Dr Babar Awan and some times the head of the state, therefore, the application reached the AOR office late and thus he could not deposit fee in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in time.
The eminent lawyers and the constitutional experts say that if the concerned officials in the Law Ministry and to the Attorney General are given a free hand, then not only the work could be expedited, but they could also make reasonable decisions.
According to the sources, the government has taken plea in the application that instead of a three-member bench the 17-member larger bench, constituted to hear the NRO review and implementation cases, should have declined the government’s request for more time.
The government’s review plea maintains that it was a wrong perception that the government was using delaying tactics in NRO review plea and NRO implementation cases. It says denying time for change of lawyer would be equal to depriving of the right of review.