NRO decision!

[SekrutYakhni]

Updated at: 2111 PST, Tuesday, January 19, 2010
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday released the detailed judgment in the National Reconciliation Ordinance case.

The 300-page detailed ruling was penned by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

It may be reminded here that the Supreme Court (SC) in its short judgment on Dec 16 had struck down the controversial NRO, saying it is null and void.

The court has said that the NRO ensured legal cover to corruption by the privileged class

In its landmark and the expected judgment, a 17-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had declared the NRO an instrument void ab initio, being ultra vires and violative of various constitutional provisions including Articles 4, 8, 25, 62(f), 63(i)(p), 89, 175 and 227 of the Constitution.

Former federal minister Dr Mubashar Hassan, former bureaucrat Roedad Khan, Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif had challenged the NRO before the Supreme Court in 2007.

“All steps taken, actions suffered, and all orders passed by whatever authority, any orders passed by the courts of law including the orders of discharge and acquittals recorded in favour of the accused persons, are also declared never to have existed in the eyes of law and resultantly of no legal effect,” the court had ruled in its short order read out by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

The larger bench of the apex court ruled that all cases in which the accused persons were either discharged or acquitted under Section 2 of the NRO or where proceedings pending against the holders of public office had got terminated in view of Section 7 thereof, a list of which cases has been furnished to this Court and any other such cases/proceedings which may not have been brought to the notice of this Court, shall stand revived and relegated to the status of pre-5th of October, 2007 position.

The Court had also directed the concerned courts including the trial, the appellate and the review courts to summon the persons accused in such cases and then to proceed in the respective matters in accordance with law from the stage from where such proceedings had been brought to an end in pursuance of the above provisions of the NRO.

Link:SC releases detailed ruling in NRO case - GEO.tv


Historic decision!

 

[SekrutYakhni]

Case has been opened including Zia, Musharaf, generals, judges, politicians etc

 

[BATMAN]

Iftikhar ch. is affraid of the growing popularity of Musharraf.
it is nothing more than personal vendata.

 

[Rafael]

Iftikhar ch. is affraid of the growing popularity of Musharraf.
it is nothing more than personal vendata.

Some people will never learn!

 

[SekrutYakhni]

BATMAN

Sir I disagree with you!
In my opinion CJ cannot run for elections so it is of no use for him to get worry about the so called as you say growing popularity of Mushy.
You can say Zardari and Musharaf can be afraid because they both can run for elections...

 

[BATMAN]

He cannot run for elections but he is affraid Musharraf might unveil his true face.
After all it is fair to give both equal chance of clarification.
In any case the way he dismiss plane hijack case....let their be no doubt about that judiciary is tainted .

 

[SekrutYakhni]

He cannot run for elections but he is affraid Musharraf might unveil his true face.
After all it is fair to give both equal chance of clarification.
In any case the way he dismiss plane hijack case....let their be no doubt about that judiciary is tainted .

Yes. You are right!
There should be equal chance for both sides. However, if Mushy was saint in that case than what was Kiyani and other people doing there?

Why did not Mushy showed proofs to the media if he was right. I mean it is not the proper way but he knew that his seat was going and if one knows his seat is going he can do anything..example of it is Emergency, Marshal Law etc

So if he went to that extreme i.e. Emergency...more effective way was to show the proofs to the people....
but he went to the other extreme..

 

[PAFAce]

The larger bench of the apex court ruled that all cases in which the accused persons were either discharged or acquitted under Section 2 of the NRO or where proceedings pending against the holders of public office had got terminated in view of Section 7 thereof, a list of which cases has been furnished to this Court and any other such cases/proceedings which may not have been brought to the notice of this Court, shall stand revived and relegated to the status of pre-5th of October, 2007 position.

This is interesting. It simply states "public office" and does not exclude Presidency. I wonder if this was done on purpose? I would love for clarification on this matter.

The Court had also directed the concerned courts including the trial, the appellate and the review courts to summon the persons accused in such cases and then to proceed in the respective matters in accordance with law from the stage from where such proceedings had been brought to an end in pursuance of the above provisions of the NRO.

What happens if the summon is turned down? For example, if Gen. Musharraf or Altaf Hussain refuse to come back to the country and face the charges, what can the Supreme Court do?

We need a lawyer here!

He cannot run for elections but he is affraid Musharraf might unveil his true face.
In any case the way he dismiss plane hijack case....let their be no doubt about that judiciary is tainted

SC has done wonders for the democratic process so far, one of the few institutions that seems to be working for the common man. Is it perfect? of course not, but I'll take this judiciary over the one imposed on us by the General any day. Pakistanis are loving the CJ's face so far, whether it's his "true face" or not time will tell.

And by the way, what increasing popularity of Musharraf are you speaking of? Musharraf's approval ratings dropped to record levels when he left office, and I'm not sure they have surged since then. Sometimes I wonder how a man who was hailed as the savior of Pakistan in 1999 by many could have ever allowed himself to fall so low. I really hope Mr. Iftikhar Chaudhary doesn't follow Musharraf's lead.

 

[PAFAce]

Pakistanio! How can you be so uninterested in the NRO? Wake up! this is one of the best things to have happened to our political system in recent times. Let's see some intelligent debate!

What happens if the summon is turned down? For example, if Gen. Musharraf or Altaf Hussain refuse to come back to the country and face the charges, what can the Supreme Court do?

My question was answered by senior lawyer Abdul Hafeez Pirzada:

SC can seek army’s help for implementation of verdicts: Pirzada

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court can seek the army’s help in getting its verdicts implemented in letter and spirit, as the army is part of the executive and bound to obey the court’s orders under Article 190 of the constitution, senior lawyer Abdul Hafeez Pirzada said on Wednesday.

“The SC can seek the army chief’s help for the implementation of verdicts,” Pirzada told reporters at the SC while commenting on the detailed judgement on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). “There is an antecedent ... former chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah sought the army chief’s help,” he said. He rejected the impression that a court directive to the army would seem like an invitation for taking charge of the government.

He said it would be necessary for the government to file a petition to seek immunity for the president against court proceedings.

 

[SekrutYakhni]

I think CJ process is too slow. Just get some people to start shooting couple of thousand people..
We need a "cleaning" team immediately..
anyways...

CJ has taken some interested decision....
Hope people get where they belong from...

 

[fatman17]

the govt, SC and army (behind the scene) are on a collision course - not to mention the 'parting' of ways between the PPP and PML-N.

look for a bumpy ride.

 

[courageneverdies]

He cannot run for elections but he is affraid Musharraf might unveil his true face.
After all it is fair to give both equal chance of clarification.
In any case the way he dismiss plane hijack case....let their be no doubt about that judiciary is tainted .

This is usually considered to be cotempt of court.

On a serious note, if it was so than why had Musharaf and his "hawareen" said that the biggest of their foolish acts was the attack on judiciary? Just answer this question to prove that Musharaf was right and CJ was/is wrong.

KIT Over

 

[FireFighter]

This is interesting. It simply states "public office" and does not exclude Presidency. I wonder if this was done on purpose? I would love for clarification on this matter.


What happens if the summon is turned down? For example, if Gen. Musharraf or Altaf Hussain refuse to come back to the country and face the charges, what can the Supreme Court do?

We need a lawyer here!

I'll try my best to help you out with my tits bits of knowledge.



Usually when courts issue summons against people they denote that legal proceedings have initiated against them due to some sort of criminal activity. Summons are basically legal documents. People mentioned in the summon are obliged by law to either respond back in writing, hire a representative i.e. a lawyer, or simply present themselves if they're prepared to answer or fight their case. All in all, they *must* respond within a time frame given by the court.

Failure to respond or present themselves in time could result in a conviction, unless they have a reasonable (legal) reason not to appear or respond (i.e. due to severe illness).


Depending on the severity of a crime mentioned in the summon, failure to respond or present in time could also result in issuance of arrest or bench warrants by a judge. Once a supreme court arrest warrant is issued, it becomes the responsibility of law enforcement agencies to catch the alleged criminals and put them in jails, and eventually bring them to the courts to answer for their crimes.


I would love to see an arrest warrant issued against any corrupt politicians be it Musharraf or Gilani or the Shariffs.


At last some1's gotta bring these bastards before the law. These shameless bastards and wolves in sheeps clothing have got to be brought before the law.

SC has done wonders for the democratic process so far, one of the few institutions that seems to be working for the common man. Is it perfect? of course not, but I'll take this judiciary over the one imposed on us by the General any day. Pakistanis are loving the CJ's face so far, whether it's his "true face" or not time will tell.

And by the way, what increasing popularity of Musharraf are you speaking of? Musharraf's approval ratings dropped to record levels when he left office, and I'm not sure they have surged since then. Sometimes I wonder how a man who was hailed as the savior of Pakistan in 1999 by many could have ever allowed himself to fall so low. I really hope Mr. Iftikhar Chaudhary doesn't follow Musharraf's lead.

Yup 100% agree they have done wonders but lets see how long they'll be able to keep up the good work?

 

[MZUBAIR]

I think, even Army is not happy on the acts of Mushraf.....they are also paying for Mushraf sins.

If Gov is not acting on SC then I think SC have option to request Army to act on decisions.....and that might be the end of the Zardari power. Not only that it might impact badly on nation.

Almost 2 years gone of this Gov and no progress.........
Electricity problem rose up.
Gas problem and prices rose up.
Water problem.
Security problem.
terrorism rose up.
Economy problem.
Corruption rose up.
Gov is only focused to rose up PPP persons.
Gov not acting on SC rules like they are not lessening (decresing) sugar, oil, gas prices as ordered by SC few months ago.
Taxes rose up, but no development work for nation.
Ministers filling their pockets and very active in Ghunda Garde as usuall.
So common person is in more bad condition.


How many visits Zardari and other Goc people made and how much money spend on them and how those were usefull for the country and nation.

 

[Taha Samad]

well an interesting fact raised by a law expert is that president has immunity against criminal cases but 248 clause 4 says that court can carry out civil proceedings against president,and as most of cases against zardari have a civil part to them, so proceedings can still be carried out.

i will try to upload yesterday's "ajj kamran khan ke saath"