NRO gone

Supreme court declares NRO null and void. All cases to reopen

Lets see what follows

Govt ordered by Court to re-open Swiss cases against Zardari in black money

zardari
ganja

SC passes decision unanimously...

One of the best decisions by Pakstan's Supreme Court in a long time.




Is the order issued with prejudice or without prejudice ?

Let's see if the criminals run away. That would get rid of the president and most of the national assembly.

Hmm ok well, lets see what happens. SC also ordered the govt to ensure the supply of sugar at Rs. 40, but what happened? The SC verdict was treated as if toilet paper.

Hope for the best but don't raise your hopes too high.

Aisi ki tesi :)

Abhi to dekhain agay hota hay kia...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/world/asia/16zardari.html

Court Examines Pakistan Leader’s Offshore Riches
By JANE PERLEZ and SALMAN MASOOD

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Indignant Supreme Court judges on Tuesday demanded to know why $60 million in the suspect gains of President Asif Ali Zardari had been given back to offshore companies in his name rather than returned to the national treasury, where they said it rightfully belonged.

The barrage of questions directed at flustered anticorruption officials was the latest round of embarrassment for Mr. Zardari. He is fighting for his political life as the court hears arguments about the legality of an amnesty decree that was devised in 2007 with the help of the United States and Britain as part of a deal to engineer the comeback of Mr. Zardari’s wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, after years in exile.

The decree, which dismissed past corruption allegations, is likely to be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the coming days. Such a ruling would further weaken Mr. Zardari, Washington’s chief civilian partner in Pakistan, and perhaps set the stage for his eventual downfall, legal experts and politicians say.

Mr. Zardari was a primary beneficiary of the amnesty decree, and though he enjoys immunity from prosecution as president, opponents are planning recourse through the courts to overcome that immunity, lawyers said.

Mr. Zardari became president eight months after his wife was assassinated in December 2007. He had served 11 years in jail on charges of corruption and murder that he and his lawyers have always insisted were politically motivated.

Mr. Zardari’s presidential spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, this week reiterated the position that the corruption charges were unfounded. Mr. Zardari and his lawyers say he was never convicted. But whether or not he was convicted remains in question because he did not turn up at a past court hearing, and the issue may yet become central to his future in the presidency, legal experts said.

The hearings that began last week on the amnesty decree, known as the National Reconciliation Order, have served to expose Mr. Zardari all over again as a “man widely perceived as corrupt,” the leading newspaper, Dawn, said in an editorial.

In one document presented to the court by the National Accountability Bureau, the government office that oversees corruption cases, Mr. Zardari was alleged to hold $1.5 billion in assets, including land and overseas bank accounts.

Mr. Babar, the presidential spokesman, described the document as wildly inaccurate.

The $60 million that the judges zeroed in on Tuesday represented money that the bureau said in 2003 documents had been placed in a Swiss bank account by Mr. Zardari and Ms. Bhutto.

An official of the bureau told the court on Tuesday that $13 million represented illegal commissions Mr. Zardari received from two Swiss companies, Cotecna and Société Générale de Surveillance, after they were awarded a contract for preshipment inspections for imports to Pakistan.

The remaining $47 million, the official contended, represented illegal commissions for other contracts awarded to foreign companies when Mr. Zardari was a cabinet minister during Ms. Bhutto’s time as prime minister.

The $60 million was frozen in Switzerland while court cases were brought against Mr. Zardari and Ms. Bhutto in the early days of the government of President Pervez Musharraf. The money was apparently returned to offshore bank accounts in Mr. Zardari’s name after the amnesty decree was imposed by President Musharraf in November 2007.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Tuesday repeatedly asked who had authorized the money’s return to the accounts. The officials from the accountability bureau, now considered a powerless entity that answers to the current government, had no answers.

Chief Justice Chaudhry ordered the former attorney general under Mr. Musharraf, Malik Muhammad Qayyum, to appear before the court. Mr. Qayyum did not have a direct answer to that question either, but he did say he had acted on the authority of Mr. Musharraf to have the cases against Mr. Zardari withdrawn.

Mr. Zardari is struggling to maintain his authority under pressure from the military and a vocal section of the news media. The Pakistani Army in effect accused him of attacking its interests after he supported a Washington aid package that included provisions calling for greater civilian control over the military.

Afraid of becoming the target of a terrorist attack, the unpopular Mr. Zardari rarely leaves the presidential building, where he has remained for much of the last 10 days as the Supreme Court has whittled away at his authority.

Mr. Zardari has been banking on presidential immunity to save his position. But lawyers fighting the legality of the amnesty decree say that once the decree is declared null and void, Mr. Zardari will be exposed to legal challenges on his eligibility as a candidate for the presidency.

According to Pakistani law, presidential candidates are not permitted to have had any prior convictions.

Some Pakistani lawyers say that because Mr. Zardari failed to appear when he was called before the High Court in Lahore after he was released from jail in 2004, he is considered an absconder, a status that is enough, they say, to disqualify him as a presidential candidate.

But that issue remains unresolved, and Mr. Babar, the presidential spokesman, said Mr. Zardari had no convictions.

Lawyers also contend that a 2003 money-laundering conviction of Mr. Zardari by a Swiss magistrate, which Mr. Zardari and Ms. Bhutto appealed, was enough to disqualify him.

Once the Supreme Court rules on the amnesty, lawyers will file petitions in “a matter of days” to challenge Mr. Zardari’s eligibility as a presidential candidate, said Salman Akram Raja, a lawyer who has argued against the validity of the amnesty.

In the case against amnesty, he represents Mubashir Hassan, the leader of a breakaway faction of Mr. Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party and a staunch opponent of the president.

This gonna be really interesting. A PPP government, made to act against his own president and head of party. lol.

The khatarnaak cockroaches are done for atleast...

These include mr and mrs haqqani, rehman malik, babar awan and others...

King cockroach ka bhi dekhtey hain...

Lekin the good thing is; it is happening through an open process... koi overnight drama nahin hay... Poori supreme court ki unanimous verdict hay...

Good day for Pakistan! I am very happy! Machinery of Justice moving !

despite the statements by some people here on the forum about the SC, this is one of the best SC's Pakistan has ever had.

Nothing will come of it!... the Pakistani judiciary system is corrupt to the core, impotent and a tool for the corrupt ruling

elite!

It is nothing but sugar coating for the gullible masses... giving false hope to the hopeless!

Whatever it is...its a good decision for right now....hopefully its a start to soemthing

NARAY-E-TAKBIR - ALLAH HU AKBAR

and Congratulations to ALL!!!

They had no other choice otherwise we could skip judiciary. As said before. ,WE need to see how long it will stay correct. Same judiciary moved against Nawaz and went back again. Zardari has awful lot of wealth. I stil need to see how far they go.

True, true. judiciary walay koi doodh kay dhullay nahi hain. They are just as corrupt. But after the the lawyer's movement, there is an immense amount of public pressure (not to mention pressure from the military) on the judiciary to perform and perform stupendously. You the Pakistani people, jisko zoar o shoar say support kartay hain, utni hi baydardi say gira bhi daytay hain.

whats the difference? explain please.



for sugar, there could not be measuring tool for the gov. performance. but for corruption cases, their is simple measurement performance i.e. if case is opened or not.

Now. though we wont see the result immediately and shortly it may look like the cockroaches have won, but it has long term effect.

Ask any lawyer or knowing person here and he will tell you that its not important if the punishment is carried out by the authorities but whats important is the fact that if the person was found guilty or not.

A part of me wants to celebrate but the other half is saying "don't celebrate too soon"

The corrupt ruling elite and their powerful American-Zionist-Blackwater alliance will not allow the fallout we all desire, they will find a way to contain it.

Either they will use bribery and intimidation is certain 'key' cases to promote the Politicians they want to keep, or they will engineer a 'taliba-alqaida' attack in which key members of the Judiciary is targeted and killed.

Pakistanis can never get Justice without a Inqlaab/Revolution to overhaul the entire corrupt secular system.

Look we are talking about Pakistan... Let us move to judiciary in UK... Herre you have Levni doing her part in Israeli government to terrorize and genocide Palestinians. Wiuth hard work they get her warrant in the UK and what tells Brown today? That she is more then welcome and he is going to do everything to change the laws... So to see it simplistic. They can drop international laws to get Saddam hanged but on the other front the change laws to get others to be allowed to commit genocide... If that is UK then why expecting everything perfect in the Pakistani side...

If the govt ignores the order than we can expect a "judicial coup" because then the public pressure would shift from the judiciary to the army, under this circumstance the army would do things quick, get rid of zardari and his cronies and possibly enforce a national unity govt.

Not required to be. Its not civil case rather Constitutional Case on a certain LAW and not against Individual.



Its not required in present case but below is explanation.

http://www.answers.com/topic/prejudice-law

The decision is important as the Military can now use this as a legal and moral authority to ask the Government to remove a corrupt President and corrupt ministers. The implications are profound.

LOL

What an example. let me draw the parallel here. Thanks for providing the opportunity to do so.


What you have said is the prime example of inferior common law. Which is also in action in Pakistan.

Common law is core reason why Pakistan has failed to achieve anything substantiation in legislation during last 60 years because we are running a country by the common law. Common law is poorly written and badly implemented.

Common law was created and implemented by the bunch Aristocrats of England to protect their interests and they altered it as it fits them best.

same is happening here in Pakistan and same happened in UK. It simply doesnt help the little guy. it is for the elite and protect the interest of the monarch and dictators, be it political or army.

But same Common law applies in US, CANADA, AUSTRALIA...

I really dont see a failure in those nations.

If we are going to talk in terms of Islamic Law and common law than i guess you are correct but other than that nothing

^^^your slighley mistaken. the laws written for britain were different to what was written for the empire. the laws in britain were more leignent. whilst as the laws or the empire were to subjugate and control. the laws in britain have changed but the law of Pakistan remains what britain put there. the only person to slightly change it was zia. but in essence it remains the old colonial laws put in place by the white sahibs all thats changed is they are no longer white

America do have parts of common law. Their constitution has some influence.

Canada do have common law, but who they are ethnically?

American Constitution was form totally opposite to brits. Read the bill of rights and you will find out the differences. There is no aristocracy protections in American law.

As matter of fact, American constitution is limits the power of government.

American constitution provides more freedom to common man. it gives you Freedom to speech, Right arm, right to Assemble and protest, right to privacy and much more.

Ideologically i am an Anarchist, but still there ought to be some form of government, but minimal government.

Well that got nothing to do with common law. if anything it is all about ignorance of Pakistan leaders and Pakistani people.

They could have changed the laws.

Common Law means the way the whole system is run and not that there are old legislations that needs to be amended.




But the point remain that the common law applies in all the nations. While USA had brains enough to amend it according to their own needs and requirement but they still run the very system of UK which is common law.

But same rights also exist under common law and are protected by case law.

My argument against common law is that it is the law of white man. It is the law of oppressor to whom we rebelled against for freedom.

The common law should go out of the window with the brits.

We should have had our own constitution from scratch according to our needs and what full fills out social needs.

You see Common law is for Europeans, its a remedy for European disease. Not ours.

A long standing issue is finally settled with a strongly yearned for decision.

Today again, I’ve started believing that the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ -- that has always been a part of Judiciary in the past -- is now buried deep under the ground. This is the same de facto ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ that has ruined Pakistan all the time in the past!

This decision is lauded by everyone by and large. Some exceptions -- when ‘Jiyalas’ are concerned -- is always there.

Now Supreme Court should also adjudicate the long standing cases before long.

This is for the genuine beneficiaries of NRO: for how long could you save yourself now? Your time’s up.

But the question is, will we see those looters and plunderers of Pakistan getting severe punishment? None in the history has ever been punished, sadly!!

Asif Ali Zardari wont quit. :)

^ O fiqar na kar Aliph! Ek din ovi si jitthay Musharfa kenda si vardi meri khaal nay.

Good move by our Supreme Court

For everyone's enjoyment:

"(x) that in view of the above noticed conduct of Malik Muhammad
Qayyum, the then learned Attorney General for Pakistan in addressing
unauthorized communications which had resulted in unlawful
abandonment of claims of the Government of Pakistan, inter alia, to
huge amounts of the allegedly laundered moneys lying in foreign
countries including Switzerland, the Federal Government and all other
competent authorities are directed to proceed against the said Malik
Muhammad Qayyum in accordance with law in the said connection;"

Supreme Court of Pakistan - Short Order of NRO

NO Doubt, but whats the alternative?? I am talking about system not the fact that we are incompetent nation who cant make its own law. With system i mean how the courts operate, the rule of precedent etc.

I do agree with you that we need to revamp the laws. Every time I read Pakistan Penal Code it makes you feel like slave, but than again y blame the British when we ourselves dont have brain enough to change it.


than our alternative is Islamic Law implemented in its true form. But than again watch how people jump up and down on that issue.

For once I have to give a RAP to CJ for this

The SC decision has another very important message-- Mr Musharaf, the former military dictator and so called great patriot (yeah right!), acted ILLEGALLY TO PROVIDE COVER TO CRIMINALS AND THUGS AND RAPISTS!! As he acted ILLEGALLY and protected CRIMINALS Mr Musharaf should be brought to court and trilled for treason and SIDING WITH ANTI-STATE CRIMINALS and RAPISTS!!

I can live with that warna I was expecting people to jump and start labelling me as PPP suporter now.

Waisay this guy is not Pervaiz Musharraf. I dont think he will go out without a fight even if it means civil war. Allah na kray, that is.

and I think PZ is already getting ready for a long march. His second march

acha... ab samaj mein aya, why ganja wanted CJ back
saying that, i have now offically started supporting this CJ

What are the possibilities in near future?




btw, in case anyone is wondering about my display name, Musilin means Muslim in Chinese.

What would happen to cases against Nawaz and his leaguers? Wasnt his deal with Musharraf in 1999 NRO-I?

Good job by the SC nevertheless.

"(xi) that we place on record our displeasure about the conduct and lack of
proper and honest assistance and cooperation on the part of the
Chairman of the NAB, the Prosecutor General of the NAB and of the
Additional Prosecutor General of the NAB, namely, Mr. Abdul Baseer
Qureshi in this case. Consequently, it is not possible for us to trust
them with proper and diligent pursuit of the cases falling within their
respective spheres of operation. It is therefore, suggested that the
Federal Government may make fresh appointments against the said
posts of persons possessing high degree of competence and
impeccable integrity in terms of Section 6 of the NAB Ordinance as
also in terms of the observations of this Court made in the case of
Khan Asfandyar Wali v. Federation of Pakistan (PLD 2001 SC 607).
However, till such fresh appointments are so made, the present
incumbents may continue to discharge their obligations strictly in
accordance with law. They shall, however, transmit periodical reports
of the actions taken by them to the Monitoring Cell of this Court
which is being established through the succeeding parts of this
judgment;"

Supreme Court of Pakistan - NRO Short Order

***

Absolutely breath-taking stuff. To see this type of language, full of confidence, righteous assurance and certainity from the Supreme Court of Pakistan makes me more proud than I can describe.

Not Ganja! :)


If it is a tool for the corrupt ruling, what in the hell made it decide against NRO?

Awesome decision ... Kudos to CJ Iftikhar Chaudry and the rest of the bench. The lawyers movement has finally brought forth some fruit. For those who are commenting that nothing will come of it than maybe that is true but the ball is in the court of the executive now. The will of the Judiciary is always enforced by barons of executive power the world over. Blatant disregard for the law though not impossible in Pakistan is much different then the hand n glove situation where the courts just served as rubber stamps for everything under the sun.

Good day for Pakistan.

very good decision we are proud of you mr IMC and team in SC, PZ remember i told in response of your post about dissatisfaction about SC, that they are taking measured steps and they are not a jazbati tola who will do any bollywood stuff like hang them all.

Kudos to SCP.

regards

I think he was not part of NRO.

I know he wasn't part of the NRO package. But he made a deal and got out of the country as well.

Lets hope the executive branch backs it up by having all beneficiaries resign from their post to the very least.

One great step towards a great political development and strong stability in politics.

Let the jugdes show no mercy to anyone and show that justice is for everyone Pakistan regardless religion, background and income!!



From the national anthem: Tareeqiouy kiy awaam - the developing people

Rehman Malik has just been issued court orders by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on charges of 'Contempt of Court'.



Dawn News

NAB is has now reopend all the case against every individuals. NAB is now waiting for issuance of arrest warrant to arrest those against whom there were cases.

NAB is also working to seal assets and accounts of those who benifited from NRO

NAB has placed all NRO BENIFICARY on ECL (EXIT CONTROL LIST) except the PRESIDENT ASIF ALI ZARDARI