ZA Bhutto case: SC asks government for power to ‘revisit’ 32-year-old verdict

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary has asked the government to empower the Supreme Court to revisit the death by hanging verdict handed down to Zulfiqar AliBhutto. You must provide us thejurisdiction so that we can derive our powers to give our opinion on the presidential reference in accordance with Article 186 of the constitution, the CJ remarked during the hearing.Federation s counsel Babar Awan asked the eleven-member bench to interpret Article 186 in a broader context. The court asked Awan to come to the question of law asked by the president in the reference.Awan contended that the due process mentioned in Articles 4 and 9 of the constitution were violated which guarantee the inalienable right of every citizen to enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in accordance with it.Justice Sair Ali said history is witness to the popularverdict which overarches the court s judgment. The counsel contended that it is the courts prerogative to pronounce a verdict. He cited different references from Pakistani and Indian jurisdictions.The bench asked him to quote a judgment from anywhere in the world where a case was reopened after the dismissal of the review. Babar quoted the Roopa case in which the Indian Supreme Court declared that justice is more important than meeting the finality of the judgment.Former Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice Maulvi Mushtaq gave no reason for transferring Bhutto s case from the session court to the LHC. He said it was important tohighlight the flaws in judicial proceedings during the martial law regime.The CJ asked if the cases of all the people executed during martial law should be reopened. The counsel argued that the case of Bhutto was different because he was the only one to hang for complicity in a murder case. A day before the hearing of Bhutto s appeal in the Supreme Court, Ziaul Haq removed chief justice Muhammad Yaqub Ali.The CJ remarked that discrimination in Bhutto s case was unprecedented in the history of law. The case was adjourned till Thursday.Meanwhile the fate of some 29 parliamentarians, who won by-elections, hangs in the balance after the Supreme Court questioned the polls validity on the grounds that theelection commission (EC) has not been constituted according to the 18thamendment.The CJ questioned how the ECP conducted the elections when it is a violation of Articles 218 and 219. By-elections held after April 20, 2010 are unconstitutional. Deviation from the constitution amounts to high treason.The AGP informed the court that the names proposed for the new chief election commissioner have been sent to the Prime Minister and the leader of house. The membership of these parliamentarians may be terminated, the CJ observed. What is the legality of their acts under the circumstances? He said this case would lead to another constitutionalcrisis. Shah Khawar requested the court to grant the ECP immunity from litigation until it has been duly constituted. Do you want us to revert to the doctrine of necessity? We are under oath to work in accordance with the constitution, the CJ remarked. He directed the ECP to submit a reply on the status of by-elections till May 19 and asked the AGP to come up with a solution as this case is of immense constitutionalimportance.Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2011.

Pakistan due to get $300m in US security reimbursement

KARACHI: Pakistan is likely to get $300 million from the United States for costs incurred in fighting militants, officials said on Thursday, at a time US legislators have been questioning aid toPakistan after Osama bin Laden was found there.The funds are part of a so-called Coalition Support Fund (CSF), a USprogramme to reimburse countries that have incurred costs supporting counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations. Pakistan should receive $300 million soon, said a Pakistani finance official who declined to be identified.The United States has reimbursed Pakistan $7.4 billion under the CSF programme since 2001, when Pakistan joined the US-led campaign against militancy.Funds that come in through the CSF are not officially designated as U.S. foreign aid. Some US lawmakers have questioned whetherPakistan was serious about fighting militants after US special forcesfound and killed al Qaeda leader bin Laden in a Pakistani town near the capital on May 2.Some of them have called for a suspension of aid but the US administration has stressed the importance of maintaining cooperation with the uneasy ally in the interests of battling militancy and bringing stability to neighbouring Afghanistan.Pakistan has rejected accusations that it was either incompetent in tracking down the man behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States or complicit in hidinghim in the town of Abbottabad, 50 km (30 miles) north of Islamabad.US legislators have long complained there is little accountability for the funds given Pakistan through the CSF.In 2008, US auditors said there was not always enough documentation to verify that costs being reimbursed were valid. The US funds are due as cash-strapped Pakistan is in negotiationswith the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of the next tranche of an $11.3 billion loan.Pakistan and IMF officials began talks on Wednesday meetings moved to Dubai after bin Laden s death aimed at getting agreement on enough reforms in the coming budget to restart a halted IMF bailout loan.In August last year, the IMF stopped releasing funds because of Pakistan s patchy implementation of promised fiscal reforms.

Pakistan: We're not 'in cahoots' with al-Qaida

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's prime minister rejected allegations that national authorities were either complicit in hiding al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden or incompetent in tracking him down.

Yousuf Raza Gilani defended his country during an address to parliament on Monday, a week after a raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad killed the terrorist mastermind.

He also said bin Laden's killing was proper justice.

Bin Laden's location raised suspicions that he had help from some Pakistani authorities, possibly elements of the powerful army and intelligence services.

Pakistan's armed forces have historical — some say ongoing — links with Islamist militants, which they used as proxies in Afghanistan and India.

"Allegations of complicity or incompetence are absurd," Gilani told parliament, adding that it was disingenuous for anyone to accuse Pakistan, including its spy agency, of "being in cahoots" with the al-Qaida network.

Gilani said unilateral actions such as the U.S. Navy SEALs swoop on Obama's hideout run the risk of serious consequences, but added Pakistan attached high importance to its relations with Washington.

He added that the army would investigate bin Laden's killing, and stressed the military and intelligence community in Pakistan had the government's confidence.

Gilani was speaking amid increasing political pressure over bin Laden's killing.

'We want resignations'
Pakistan's main opposition party stepped up calls for Gilani and the president, Ali Asif Zardari, to resign over the breach of sovereignty by U.S. special forces.

"We want resignations, not half-baked explanations," an official of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League told the News daily.

Ties between Islamabad and Washington, which are crucial to combating Islamist militants and the war in Afghanistan, have been strained by the raid, which was carried out without Pakistan's knowledge.

Relations were already fragile after a string of diplomatic disputes over issues including a big attack by a U.S. drone aircraft in March and Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who shot dead two Pakistanis in the city of Lahore in January.