Top Pakistani court orders PM Gilani to act against President Zardari

In a surprising order, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has directed Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to write a letter to Swiss authorities to open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, without seeking advice from law authorities.

This dramatic move by the court further instructs the prime minister to submit his reply on March 21 after writing this letter. A seven-member bench of the top court is also hearing a case of contempt against the premier Gilani.

Gilani was indicted on Feb. 13 and his lawyer is now defending him in ongoing proceedings, which if unsuccessful, could result in Gilani facing disqualification.

Legal experts said the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government was attempting to delay the judicial implementation of Supreme Court orders against beneficiaries of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO); a law promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf to dump all criminal and corruption cases against 8,000 thousand people including politicians, with Zardari on top of the list.

In 2008, Swiss judicial authorities closed in on a money laundering case
against Zardari and released $60 million worth of assets frozen in Swiss accounts on the request of Pakistani authorities. Then, in 2012, Pakistani media quoted Swiss Attorney General Daniel Zepalli as saying that cases against Zardari could not be opened, adding that the president enjoys immunity according to the international laws.

But this ordinance was declared unconstitutional on Dec. 16, 2009 by the Supreme Court and all cases were revived. Since then, the battle has been on between the judiciary and the government over the reopening of cases against Zardari in Switzerland.

Legal experts commenting on recent court orders say that the government has not completely followed orders of the Supreme Court in the NRO implementation case. The government has no option left but to write a letter to Swiss authorities. The constitution empowers the top court to press the government to follow the law. They say that no prime minister is bound to write against President Zardari, his political boss, and this move may lead to withdrawal of contempt charges against him.