Gilani's disqualification: legal propriety of post-April 26 decisions debatable

After the former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was disqualified by the Supreme Court, 35 federal ministers, 18 ministers for state, 4 advisers to the prime minister and 6 special assistants to the Prime Minister ceased to hold their respective offices with effect from April 26 this year.
A notification has been issued in this respect by the Cabinet Division. The effectiveness of administrative and other decisions taken by the Cabinet after April 2012 is debatable. Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry contended that there was a constitutional and legal debate over the legal status of those decisions made after April 26 by the former Prime Minister and his Cabinet.
He said that the new government would need to move an indemnity bill in parliament so that legal cover could be given to administrative and other such decisions. This exercises was a routine during martial law regimes, starting from General Ayub Khan to former dictator Pervaz Musharraf, he said.
He also said that fresh approval would be needed in case of annual budget 2012-13 through this Indemnity Bill. Most of the Cabinet Members stayed away from their offices on Wednesday. Former commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Faheem, who was visiting Brazil to participate in Rio Conference, dashed back home. Amin Faheem cut short his visit after losing the status of Minister. Two agreements and 6 MoUs were expected to be signed there but were postponed after the dismissal of the Gilani Cabinet.
However, former Minister for Environment Rana Farooq Saeed, who accompanied the former Commerce Minister, preferred to stay there, but would not sign any agreements there. Ambassador of Brazil to Pakistan Alfredo Leoni, said said that his government could not give legal status to the text of agreements. However, he expressed the hope that as negotiations on bilateral agreements and MoUs were at advance stage, they would be likely to be signed by the new elected government of Pakistan. Sources said that the Foreign Ministry had to stop working on various ongoing negotiations on various bilateral agreements and MoUs after the dismissal of the Cabinet.