|
Islamabad: The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to hear petitions challenging an ordinance President Pervez Musharraf issued last week declaring amnesty for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and other politicians facing corruption cases.
Subjecting any pardon or relief under the National Reconciliation Ordinance to the final judicial verdict on the petitions, the court adjourned the hearing for three weeks.
Underlining the public importance of the case, a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said the legal challenges to the ordinance would be heard by a larger panel.
The Bench ruled that any benefits given to persons who had been holding public offices under the ordinance "shall be subject to the final decision of the court on the petitions".
The ordinance provides indemnity against prosecution for public figures against whom charges have not been established in any court in a whole decade.
Chief justice's directive
Chief Justice Chaudhry said that the "beneficiaries" would not be entitled to claim any protection from prosecution if the court declared the ordinance unconstitutional.
He directed that during the hearing of the petitions lawyers should not mention Benazir Bhutto, Musharraf or other public figures by name.
"We are not against anyone, we only have to examine this law. We are not hearing a case against any specific individual."
Benazir, her husband Asif Ali Zardari and incumbent interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao have already moved applications in an accountability court to stop proceedings in cases pending against them.
The Bench appointed three senior lawyers - Allah Nawaz, Shahid Usmani and Sardar Khan - to assist the court in the case as amicus curiae.
Five petitioners, including former minister Mubashar Hassan, former premier Nawaz Sharif's brother Shahbaz Sharif and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad, have pleaded that the ordinance is discriminatory and contrary to the constitution.
The Supreme Court rejected a request by counsels of the petitioners to suspend the ordinance.
Meanwhile, Farooq Naik, lawyer for Benazir, said that the Pakistan People's Party chairperson was set to return to the country on October 18, as scheduled.
Federal minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmad, however, told a private television channel that the court decision presented a "complex situation" for Bhutto.
|
