Pak SC issues final deadline of 5 October in Zardari case

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday gave a final deadline of 5 October to the government to present a revised draft letter to be sent to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

As the court resumed hearing on Wednesday, law minister Farooq H Naek submitted a redrafted letter along with an authority letter on behalf of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. But a five-member bench hearing the case tore apart the ''revised'' draft Swiss letter and ordered mandatory changes in the light of court guidelines.

In its order, the Supreme Court said that few things were missing in the letter present by the federal law minister in the court on Wednesday.

The court said contempt proceedings would be initiated against the prime minister if the government failed to present a better draft at the on next hearing on 5 October. Naek assured the court that he would redraft the letter.

Naek later told reporters that the court raised some reservations about the letter and that the bench accepted his plea for more time to consult the prime minister.

"I am confident that we will succeed to find out a solution to the issue so that uncertainty in the country is ended," the minister said. He added that the constitution and the law would be government's touchstones in this regard.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf last week had agreed to reopen the graft case against the President, which the government had been resisting so far on the plea that the President enjoyed immunity against such proceedings. But the court refused to accept this and threatened contempt of court proceedings against the prime minister, on which he did a volte face.