Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court (SC) will resume the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) Implementation case from today, as the deadline given by the court to the government regarding its stance over writing the Swiss letter, has come to an end today, SAMAA reports Wednesday.

It should be mentioned here that the apex court took suo motu notice in March 2010 over non-implementation of its NRO verdict.

On November 25, 2011, when the review petitions were discharged, the court took up the Implementation case again.

On January 3, 2012, a five-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, again resume the suo motu implementation case. The bench began also the contempt proceedings against former Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani that resulted in his conviction and ultimate ouster from the premiership and deprivation of National Assembly membership.

On June 27, 2012, the court again heard the case after Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf had been sworn in and sought a reply from him over the issue till July 12.

On July 12, 2012, the court dismissed the rejoinder submitted by the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Irfan Qadir and ordered the Prime Minister to put in action the judicial ruling in the light of court order given to former Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to write the Swiss letter without seeking any advice.

The court gave the Prime Minister a deadline of July 25 to act upon the court order. On the hearing, Attorney General appeared to be in aggressive mood; however, later on, he pledged to negotiate with the government for a middle path. The court gave him time till August 8 for the purpose. The deadline comes to an end today.

The legal experts said it is abundantly manifest from the statements being streamed from the government circles that it is in no mood to write the Swiss letter. Hence, the court may resort to its Six Options Ruling put forward on January 10.

It should be mentioned here that the government in its bid to pre-empt judicial verdict regarding disqualification of the new Prime Minister, brought forward new Contempt of Court Act 2012. However, the SC annulled this law last week.

After this annulment, the government has no concrete defence for to save its Prime Minister. SAMAA

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