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SC to get draft of Swiss letter today
ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Farooq H. Naek will appear before the
Supreme Court on Tuesday and present the draft of a letter to be sent to the
Swiss authorities relating to alleged graft cases against President Asif Ali
Zardari.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf had
assured the Supreme Court on Sept 18 that his law minister would write the
letter to implement its NRO judgment.
Talking to newsmen outside the
parliament house, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said Mr Naek would
submit the draft of the letter on Tuesday.
Responding to a question, he said if
the court didn’t agree with the substance of the letter changes could be made
as per its directions.
He refused to accept that the
government had taken a U-turn on the issue and said that in accordance with the
court ruling the government was trying its best to find a middle way.
When asked to share something from
the contents of the letter, Mr Kaira said the government would present its
argument and let the court accept the letter or ask for some changes.
The minister said: “We are hopeful
that the issue will be resolved amicably.” He said the government’s letter
would lead to withdrawal of the letter sent by former attorney general Malik
Qayyum to the Swiss government.
When contacted, former Senate
chairman and Supreme Court lawyer Wasim Sajjad, who was consulted by the law
minister while drafting the letter, refused to say anything specific about the
contents of the letter and said: “I have no right to speak on behalf of the
government.”
According to one source, the
government will simply disown Malik Qayyum’s letter and argue that he had sent
it without authorisation by the then government.
Therefore, the source added, Mr Naek
would argue that the government had nothing to do with Mr Qayyum’s
correspondence with the Swiss government relating to the alleged money
laundering cases against Mr Zardari.
Secondly, the source said, the government
would elaborately refer to the constitutional provisions and international
conventions which provided immunity against prosecution to a sitting head of
state.
Talking to Dawn, a senior lawyer of
the Supreme Court said the court in its order had already observed that Mr
Qayyum’s letter should be withdrawn because it lacked validity.
“But it depends upon how the
government plays with this very fact. Simple disassociation will not be enough,
the court would insist on specifics such as the government withdraws Mr
Qayyum’s letter and something about the status of cases in question. Let’s see
what transpires in the court,” he said.
The lawyer said the government would
deliberately leave the letter open-ended so that it could buy time in the
process which would be its primary focus at the moment.
Naek presents Swiss letter draft in SC
ISLAMABAD: Federal Law Minister Farooq H. Naek presented an
authority letter on behalf of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and a draft of
the Swiss letter in the Supreme Court of Pakistan as the hearing on the NRO
verdict case resumed on Tuesday, DawnNews reported.
A five-member bench led by Justice
Asif Saeed Khosa heard the case.
Naek approached approached the
rostrum and presented an authority letter on behalf of Prime Minister Raja
Pervez Ashraf and the draft of the letter, to be sent to Swiss authorities
related to to alleged graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, in
accordance to the courts earlier directives.
The letter was addressed to Geneva’s
attorney general, said the Federal Law minister.
Justice Khosa while giving his
remarks said that it would have been better if the draft included complete
reference to the letter written by former attorney general Malik Qayyum for the
quashment of graft cases.
The court took a recess of 15 minutes
to review the prime minister’s authority letter and the draft of the
Swiss letter.
Earlier, Federal Minister for
Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Shah had arrived at the SC premises.
Attorney General of Pakistan Irfan
Qadir had also arrived at the court to attend the hearing.
MQM gives PPP three days to fulfill
‘valid’ demands
KARACHI: Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) on Monday gave Pakistan
People’s Party (PPP) a three-day ultimatum to fulfill their ‘valid’ demands,
DawnNews reported.
In a statement issued by the Rabita
Committee after its meeting held simultaneously in London and Karachi, the MQM
warned the PPP government to meet it’s legitimate demands within three days or
else the party’s lawmakers will sit on opposition benches.
The statement said that working in
coalition with the PPP has become impossible as despite repeated assurances it
has failed to meet their demands.
The PPP must not consider our
tolerance and sincerity as our weakness, it added.
It said that the party will however
continue fighting for survival of the democracy and will continue supporting
all right steps taken by the incumbent government.
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EXCHANGE FOR CURRENCY NOTES:
U.S.A 95.55
S.Arabia 25.45
U.K 154.70
Japan 1.2190
Euro 124.14
U.A.E 25.99
BULLION RATES IN
RUPEES PER 10 GRAMS
KARACHI
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Gold Tezabi (24-ct) Rs 53,142
Silver Tezabi Rs 981.42
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Tue, 25 Sep 2012
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MOHAMMED SALEEM MANSOORI
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