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relied on the National Assembly Speaker’s decision on whether Gilani stood
disqualified from continuing as a member of the National Assembly and as
Prime Minister.
The Speaker of the National Assembly decided that “the charges against
Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani are not relatable to the grounds mentioned in paragraph
(g) or (h) of clause (1) of Article 63, therefore, no question of disqualification
of Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani from being a member arises under clause (2) of
Article 63 of the constitution.”
The Speaker’s ruling was challenged in the Supreme Court by Tehrik
Insaf chief Imran Khan and a PML-N leader, Khwaja M. Asif.
The SC held that Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani had become disqualified from
being a member of parliament and had ceased to be the Prime Minister. The
Chief Justice in his five-point short order on June 19, 2012 said:
1. The court was competent under Article 184(3) to ensure enforcement
of fundamental rights.
2. The SC, while exercising its power of judicial review, was not debarred
from inquiring into the Speaker’s order of May 25, 2012.
3. As Gilani’s conviction for contempt by a 7-memebr bench of the SC
had attained finality, he had become disqualified from becoming a member of
parliament and ceased to be the prime minister on April 26, 2012.
4. The Election Commission was directed to notify Gilani’s disqualification.
5. The President should take the action required to meet the situation.
The Election Commission promptly notified that Syed Yousaf Raza had
ceased to be the Prime Minister on April 26, 2012, and thus his tenure came to
an end on June 14.
The new Prime Minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf, faced the same situation
that his predecessor had failed to resolve. The court however eased the pressure
to some extent and on September 18 the Prime Minister declared that he had
decided to comply with the court’s orders. He told the court: “After
contemplating form all angles, realizing its implications and considering the
earlier suggestions of the court, I have authorized the law minister to withdraw
the letter written by then Attorney-General Malik Qayyum. Our apprehensions,
I will say openly, are not about the individual capacity of President Zardari but
about his office.”
The letter drafted by the Law Minister did not satisfy the court and it told
the government to finalise the text soon or face contempt. Finally, the following
text was approved by the SC:
“This is with reference to the letter dated 22nd May 2008, addressed by
Malik Mohammad Qayyum to Daniel Zapelli, Attorney-General, Geneva,
Switzerland. In view of the directions given by the Supreme Court of Pakistan
in paragraph 178 of its judgment dated 16th December 2009 the aforesaid letter
is hereby withdrawn and may be treated as never written and, therefore, revival
Administration of justice