Naek to present draft of Swiss letter in SC today

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ISLAMABAD: In relation to contempt of court case against Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Law Minister Farooq H Naek will present in the Supreme Court on Tuesday a draft of a letter intended to be sent to Swiss authorities. 

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira made these remarks during his talk with media persons at the Parliament House on Monday.

“The draft letter can be amended should the Supreme Court express any reservations. Both the government and the apex court have their own viewpoints. This letter will help withdraw previous letter written to Swiss authorities,” Kaira said.

He said, the Supreme Court gave a third option or a window of opportunity to the government and had asked for exploring a middle path to resolve the issue. He said the government had stuck to its stance as far as the issue of immunity to the office of the President was concerned. The word ‘President’ or the name of the President could not be written in the draft letter because the office of the President enjoyed immunity globally.

The minister said, the Supreme Court had already said that it would look into the reservations of the Federation. He said the Prime Minister had authorized in writing to the law minister to write a letter to Swiss authorities. Answering a question about the statement of Ilyas Ahmed Bilour of Awami National Party (ANP), he said that it is his (Bilour’s) own stance while the ANP has given its explanation.  

Meanwhile, Law Minister Farooq H Naek Monday called on Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to discuss draft of the letter to be written to Swiss authorities and his appearance before the Supreme Court.

According to sources, from among the legal wizards, the law minister had also discussed the draft of the letter with former Senate Chairman Wasim Sajjad.  

The draft of the letter will be produced before a five-member bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa today (Tuesday).