Pakistan SC hears Gilani contempt appeal

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday began hearing an appeal requesting it to suspend its decision of framing contempt charges against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for his refusal to reopen graft cases naming President Asif Ali Zardari.

The court has constituted an eight-member larger bench of for hearing the intra-court appeal (ICA) filed by PM's counsel Aitzaz Ahsan against the decision of a seven-member SC bench is headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

A show-cause notice had been issued to the Gilani on Jan 16, 2012 for not implementing the apex court judgment on a corruption case over National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) dated Dec 16, 2009 that named President Zardari.

The Prime Minister appeared before a seven-member bench and stated that implementation on NRO judgment was not presently possible as the President has immunity under article 248 of the Pakistani constitution.

On Feb 2, 2012, the bench decided to frame charges against the premier on Feb 13, 2012 and in an an appeal filed through his lawyer on Wednesday, Gilani pleaded before the court to set repeal its order and suspend the proceedings against him.

Thursday's hearing however appeared to be an uphill climb for the Prime Minister, with Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry starting with saying that the appeal itself was in contempt of the court.

The chief justice questioned Gilani's counsel on how he could include paragraphs in his appeal which say that the contempt case cannot be initiated against a prime minister who helped in restoring the judges.

An increasingly assertive judiciary that has been progressively tightening screws on the country's embattled leadership in recent years and may have been further emboldened by widespread resentment of the government, has already called Gilani a ´dishonest' PM.