JOIN USPak SC to charge Gilani with contempt of court
Apparently upset by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s defiance of its order to reopen graft cases against the president, the Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday directed Yousuf Raza Gilani to appear in person on February 13 when he will be charged with contempt, a move which may trigger a fresh political crisis.
If convicted, 59-year-old Gilani could be jailed for six months and stripped of his post. Besides, he could be disqualified from holding any public office for five years.
The prime minister will have the right to file an intra-court appeal against any order convicting him within a period of 30 days. Gilani later said he would appear before the court.
A seven-judge apex court bench led by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk summoned Gilani to appear before it on February 13 after hearing arguments from his lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, who contended the premier had committed no contempt in not acting on the apex court’s orders as President Asif Ali Zardari had complete immunity from prosecution within Pakistan and abroad.
“Prima facie there is a case for further proceeding into the matter. Adjourned for February 13, for framing charges. Prime minister is required to remain present,” Mulk said.
The ruling triggered speculation about a fresh confrontation between the PPP-led government and the judiciary, as well as the future of the premier.
“The court has ordered the framing of charges against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for contempt of court on February 13. He will be present in court,” Gilani’s counsel Aitjaz Ahsan told reporters outside the Supreme Court. “My advice to my client will be to appeal the decision but he will have to decide... We have the option to appeal,” Ahsan said in response to questions from journalists.
Shortly after the court issued its order, Gilani convened a meeting with Ahsan and senior leaders of the PPP to discuss the fallout of the verdict and to frame the government’s strategy to cope with the situation.
Gilani had personally appeared before the Bench when it first took up the contempt case on January 19 but was exempted from further hearings.
The Supreme Court has been pressuring the government to reopen cases of alleged money laundering against Zardari in Switzerland after it struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a graft amnesty passed by former president Pervez Musharraf, in December 2009.
Zardari and his late wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, have been accused of laundering about $12 million in Swiss banks after they allegedly accepted bribes from firms seeking customs inspection contracts in Pakistan in 1990s.