Pak SC dismisses petitions challenging order on Zardari

In a major relief to PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Pak SC dismissed three petitions challenging a order granting amnesty to him in graft cases.

In a major relief to PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed three of the five petitions challenging a Presidential order granting amnesty to him and his slain wife and former premier Benazir Bhutto in graft cases.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed dismissed petitions filed by Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif and an advocate challenging the constitutional validity of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) issued by President Pervez Musharraf.

The counsel of the three petitioners either failed to appear in court or said they had no instructions on proceeding further. Attorney General Malik Qayyum, who represented the government, said the case should be settled quickly and not allowed to drag on.

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Two other petitions filed by retired bureaucrat Roedad Khan and former federal minister Mubashar Hassan were adjourned indefinitely by the court. The bench also withdrew a stay issued last year by the pre-emergency Supreme Court that barred other courts from giving judgements in graft cases involving persons who benefited from the NRO.

The apex court directed the other courts, including anti-corruption courts, to settle all such cases expeditiously. Besides Bhutto and Zardari, several top leaders of Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had benefited from the ordinance.

Musharraf promulgated the NRO on October 5 last year, a day ahead of the presidential poll which he contested while still in uniform. The law benefited leaders of the PPP but did not cover leaders of the PML-N, including former premier Nawaz Sharif.

In exchange for the quashing of graft cases against its leaders, the PPP did not boycott the presidential poll, giving Musharraf’s re-election credibility. Following his re-election, Musharraf quit the post of army chief and took oath as a civilian president for a second five-year term.

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As ordinances in Pakistan have a life of only three months, the NRO lapsed last month. But the caretaker government has said it continues to be in force as it was covered by the same order that validated last year’s emergency imposed by Musharraf.

Attorney General Qayyum told the court that the NRO has become a law and could be withdrawn only by parliament.

The petitions challenging the NRO had said the law violated fundamental rights as no government has the right to quash corruption cases. The petitioners also contended that the ordinance was contrary to the constitution and asked for it to be scrapped.