Updated 6 hours ago
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has submitted his reply before the Supreme Court (SC) in a pending contempt case, Geo News reported.
Barrister Gohar, an associate of Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, submitted the reply signed by the premier himself, in SC's Registrar Office. The reply comprises of 24 pages and has 84 paragraphs.
While refusing to write letter to the Swiss authorities, the premier contended that the president cannot be thrown before a foreign court and requested the court to show restrain.
The reply asked the court to refer the letter issue to the parliament like the judges' appointment matter. The PM also asked the court to withdraw March 08 order passed in his absence.
On the last date of hearing, a seven-member bench, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk had told Aitzaz that he could submit a written reply on behalf of his client or apprise the Registrar Office if the accused contemnor wanted to appear in person.
The bench made it clear that in any case, the hearing would be resumed on March 21.
During the previous proceedings, Nargis Sethi, Secretary, Cabinet Division and the Ministry of Defence, had appeared and recorded her statement in support of the defence counsel.
Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq also questioned Nargis Sethi.
The PM was indicted for contempt of court after his failure to address a letter to the Swiss authorities requesting them to re-open closed graft cases against his party head and President Asif Ali Zardari.
The court had issued a number of repeated directions to the federation to implement its order on annulled NRO, especially para 178 of the detailed judgment, dealing with the Swiss cases.
During one of his recent addresses, PM Gilani had clearly indicated his intentions when he stated that by writing the letter he could be charged with treason under the Constitution and he would prefer to go to jail for contempt which was only six months.
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