Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Monday reached Pakistan's Supreme
Court to face a charge of contempt of court for refusing to reopen graft
cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, the second premier to be
summoned by the court on the same ground.
Pakistani PM Raja Pervez Ashraf on
Monday asked the Supreme Court to give him 4 to 6 weeks for consultations with legal experts.
Ashraf was driven to the main entrance of the apex court in a SUV shortly after 9 am.
Several federal ministers, including information minister Qamar Zaman
Kaira and interior minister Rehman Malik, and leaders of the ruling
coalition arrived in the court earlier to appear alongside the premier
as a show of solidarity.
The premier will appear before a five-judge bench headed by Justice
Asif Saeed Khosa to respond to a contempt of court charge for refusing
to revive the graft cases against the President in Switzerland.
Both Kaira and Malik told reporters outside the court that the
premier was appearing in the court as the ruling Pakistan People's Party
had always respected the judiciary despite decisions that had gone
against the party, including the "judicial murder" of PPP founder
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
The two ministers further said they expected justice from the Supreme Court.
In June, the apex court disqualified Ashraf's predecessor, Yousuf
Raza Gilani, after convicting him of contempt for not acting on repeated
orders to revive the corruption cases against Zardari. Legal experts have said Ashraf could face the same fate as Gilani.
A meeting of leaders of the ruling coalition chaired by Zardari late
last night decided that the premier would appear in court despite
reservations expressed by several top PPP leaders. A section of the party, including Gilani, was opposed to Ashraf's
appearance in the court as it believes that it would make no difference. Deputy prime minister Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi, a leader of the PML-Q,
said a consensus situation was made regarding the premier's appearance
in court today. Commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim said the PPP had always
respected the judiciary but according to the Constitution, a person like
the premier could not be punished twice for the same matter. Information minister Kaira noted that former premier Gilani had
appeared in court three times and that the PPP had accepted his
disqualification despite reservations.
"We didn't accept the decision in our hearts but we obeyed it. Today,
we are appearing again because we respect the judiciary," he said. Extensive security measures were put in place for the premier's appearance in the apex court. About 700 policemen and additional personnel of the Pakistan Rangers
and Frontier Corps were deployed to guard the "red zone" where the
Supreme Court and other key buildings like the parliament are located. A helicopter was used to conduct surveillance of the area.
The Supreme Court has been pressuring the government to revive the
cases against the President since December 2009, when it struck down a
graft amnesty that benefited Zardari and over 8,000 others.
The government has refused to act, saying the President enjoys immunity in Pakistan and abroad.
From: PTI
