“Immunity for the President while in office…” “Yeah, I heard the US Supreme Court ruled that President Trump cannot be prosecuted for official actions taken when he was president.”
“That reminds me…”
“Hush, The Man Who Must Remain Nameless and Faceless won the cipher case…”
“But that was a technical knock-out. I mean, our court didn’t rule that the country’s chief executive has immunity from prosecution for official actions taken during their tenures; the reason I vaguely remember is that the cipher itself was not shared with the judges…”
“I don’t remember either, but then we can knock out our chief executives well before the end of their terms, so I guess the discussion on immunity is redundant.”
“The President of the country has immunity from paying taxes.”
“Rats, that means the treasury loses what about 20 lakh rupees per annum on lost taxes – and that’s for Zardari sahib, I reckon a dentist’s income is a lot less, while a military dictator’s income…”
“Is not taxable if he wears two hats.”
“Right so the US has immunity and our former chief executives have the courts where decisions can be overturned, perhaps not right away but when the pendulum swings in their favour…”
“Is that before or after the passage of new, improved laws?”
“Sometimes before, sometimes after.”
“Like a seesaw?”
“Precisely, one question: does the President or the prime minister have the power to pardon anyone?”
“Technically, I would assume yes. I mean, didn’t Zaradri sahib pardon all prisoners who were serving the last six months or was it a bit more, of their jail term as his Eid gift?”
“That’s right I do remember that, though the Sharifs haven’t done the same yet right?”
“I have it on good authority that the Sharifs distribute ten free laptops to those being released every month, and yes when they are given the laptops they do say long live Nawaz Sharif, and recently the pledge of free scooters to women after their term in jail ends…”
“Don’t be facetious.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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