Swiss govt letter received after 4 months: SC informed

26 Jun, 2013

ISLAMABAD: Attorney General for Pakistan Munir A. Malik Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that the Swiss Government letter regarding the re-opening of cases against the President of Pakistan, was received here after four months.

The three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Gulzar Ahmed resumed the hearing of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case.

The Attorney General apprised the court that the letter was posted by the Swiss authorities on February 4 and received here on June 20. It is not clear why the letter took so much time, he added.

He apprised the court about the contents of the letter, saying the Swiss authorities have stated that the cases against the President were now time-barred and could not be re-opened.

He also informed the court that a secret letter written by former Secretary Law Yasmin Abbasi to the Swiss authorities, was missing from the ministry's record.

A two-member investigation committee comprising Director General Investigation Bureau Aftab Sultan and Sami Saeed has been established on the directives of the Prime Minister to probe the matter, he told the court.

The Chief Justice directed the Attorney General to share all the information and developments in the investigation with the Supreme Court.

The AG sought time till the completion of investigation, saying that he was sharing the information with the Supreme Court on the directives of the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile during the hearing of original NRO case, K.K Agha, Prosecutor General National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appeared and apprised the bench that the functioning of the bureau was affected as there was no chairman at the moment.

Upon this the bench asked the Attorney General about the delay in the appointment of NAB Chairman.

The Attorney General apprised the bench that a committee had been constituted two days ago to discuss the issue and assured that the matter would be solved in next few days.

Later, the court adjourned the hearing of case for two weeks.

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