The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) resumed hearing of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case Friday where Federal Law Minister Farooq H. Naek presented the final draft of the letter to be sent to Swiss authorities for the re-opening of graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and others, a private TV reported.
A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa was hearing the case.
During the hearing, Federal Law Minister Farooq H. Naek presented before the court the amended draft of the letter to be sent to Swiss authorities. The law minister said the letter has been amended in accordance to the directives of the court.
Naek moreover requested the judges to review the letter’s draft and inform in case they had any reservations over it.
Subsequently, the judges retired to their chamber to review the draft of the letter and a recess was announced in the hearing.
On Sep 18, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf told the Supreme Court that the government has decided to withdraw a letter sent out during Pervez Musharraf's tenure to close graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Accused of graft, President Zardari was granted amnesty under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in 2007 by then president Pervez Musharraf to facilitate his return home from exile, and primarily that of his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Both were suspected of using Swiss accounts to launder about $12 million in alleged bribes paid by companies seeking customs inspection contracts in the 1990s.
The NRO that granted immunity to politicians and bureaucrats in corruption cases was struck down by the Supreme Court as void in 2009. The apex court in January ordered former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to write a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen cases against Zardari.
Gilani was convicted April 26 of contempt of court, and was disqualified as prime minister as well as parliament member on June 19.
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