Supreme Court warns Gilani of another contempt notice

Islamabad, March 29 (IANS) Pakistan's Supreme Court has threatened Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani with another contempt notice for not complying with its orders on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan of the seven-member bench remarked Thursday that the court's orders should be implemented and another contempt notice would be issued against Gilani if he did not do so.

At the last hearing, Attorney General Anwarul Haq informed the Bench that he had received instructions from the authorities and a report would be submitted to the registrar's office.

Accepting his request, the bench had adjourned the case till March 29.

On March 21, appearing before the Bench hearing contempt of court proceedings against Gilani, his counsel Aitzaz Ahsan said the court order to write to the Swiss authorities could not be implemented as long as Asif Ali Zardari was the Pakistani president.

Zardari, accused of graft, had been granted amnesty under the NRO which was issued in 2007 by then president Pervez Musharraf to facilitate the return of his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and himself.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had in 1998 accused Zardari and the late Benazir Bhutto of awarding a pre-shipment inspection contract to the Societe Generale Surveillance (SGS). This was done in return for six percent commission on the total amount the company received from the Pakistan government, it claimed.

The same year, Swiss judicial authorities, acting on the request of the Pakistani government, had closed the money laundering case against Zardari and released $60 million frozen in Swiss accounts.

Now, Pakistan's Supreme Court wants the case reopened.