By Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD: An unexpectedly calm and composed Babar Awan informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the prime minister was seized with the tricky issue of reopening Swiss cases, but there were some “grey areas and legal intricacies”.

“There are grey areas and legal intricacies involved in approaching the Swiss authorities for reopening the $60 million money-laundering cases,” the law minister informed a five-member SC bench constituted to oversee implementation of the court’s judgment on the National Reconciliation Order.

He denied that any case or prosecution had ever taken place against President Asif Zardari or slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto in Swiss courts.

Mr Awan said the prime minister was seized with a summary about the reopening of Swiss cases and action to be taken against former attorney general Malik Mohammad Qayyum for withdrawing the cases.

The bench comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja, Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi and Justice Tariq Parvez asked the law minister to submit a concise statement on steps taken by the government for implementation of the NRO judgment relating to Swiss cases.

The court adjourned the matter for two weeks and exempted the law minister from appearing before it. Justice Raja Fayyaz said the government should also give reason for not implementing the order.

At the outset, the court made it clear that it had never summoned the minister, but called him to seek certain clarifications about the matter since different versions had been coming before it. The NAB said it had written letters to the Swiss authorities, but former law secretary Aqil Mirza said the letters were still with him and not dispatched, the court observed.

Federal ministers Makhdoom Amin Faheem, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Ayatullah Durrani, Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali, Tasneem Qureshi, Nazar Gondal, Ijaz Jakhrani and Arbab Alamgir, prime minister’s adviser Latif Khosa and president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar also witnessed the proceedings.

“There are some documents available with me in the ministry which is really surprising and revealing,” Mr Awan said, adding that the request for mutual legal assistance to the Swiss authorities by a former attorney general, the late Chaudhry Mohammad Farooq, was without any proper and executive authorisation. Besides, the figure of $60 million was also exaggerated.

“There is no case at all, no prosecution though there was an investigation (against the president). There is no such amount, these are only allegations, everything is in the air without any reality and wrong and malicious statements,” the law minister said.

Justice Nasirul Mulk said the court was only concerned with the implementation of the NRO verdict in which certain directions had been issued.

The minister referred to different provisions of the now-amended constitution and said that being a sovereign government “we ought to be careful before asking foreign authorities for reopening cases without completing due process of law”.

Justice Khwaja asked the law minister to specifically mention what steps the government had taken to assert its claim to the amount parked in Swiss banks because the money belonged to the people of Pakistan.

The minister replied that the amount was “a notion and a misnomer”. Even the Swiss authorities, he said, had dropped the corruption charges in 2001. Besides, there was no determination or adjudication as to whom the money belonged.

Mr Awan assured the court that the summary with the prime minister with specific mention of the Swiss cases with relevant documents would not take months and he would personally follow the matter.

He said that nine of the 10 court orders had been complied with – removal of the prosecutor general and additional prosecutor general, appointment of a new prosecutor general and two accountability court judges in Lahore and Rawalpindi, notifications about setting up two accountability courts in Islamabad and one in Multan and appointment of a number of prosecutors.

When Justice Fayyaz asked who owned the money frozen by the Swiss authorities, the minister replied he had no idea.

Mr Awan concluded his arguments by saying he would try his best to come up to the expectations of the court. He rejected a perception that there was a confrontation between the two pillars of the state, saying he was telling his friends in the bar that it was not an easy task to be a law minister.

“Equally difficult is to become a judge,” Justice Tariq Pervez quipped.

At this, Mr Awan quoted certain Ahadith cited in the 1994 Khaliquzzaman case, defining three categories of Qazis (judges): one who will go to paradise for delivering justice, while those of the other two categories will burn in hell for delivering wrong decisions or giving decisions based on ignorance.

The minister said he was aware of the responsibility of a judge.

“Was that part of your notes?” asked Justice Nasirul Mulk. The minister replied in the affirmative.
Source: Dawn
Date:5/26/2010