Islamabad:
Pakistan's Supreme Court today said contempt of court proceedings against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani would automatically end if the chief executive wrote a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry made the remarks while hearing Mr Gilani's appeal against an order summoning him on February 13 for the framing of charges in a contempt of court case for refusing to revive the cases against Mr Zardari.
Justice Chaudhry observed that the proceedings against Mr Gilani would end if he wrote a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen cases of alleged money laundering against Mr Zardari.
The person involved in these cases is the head of the Prime Minister's party but no one is above the law, Mr Chaudhry said.
The USD 60 million that was allegedly laundered will come back to Pakistan only if the letter is written to Swiss authorities, the bench said.
The eight-judge bench further directed Mr Gilani's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan to remove some "objectionable" paragraphs from Mr Gilani's appeal.
In these paragraphs, Mr Gilani had questioned the contempt case initiated against him even though he had freed several top judges who had been detained by the regime of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
Mr Ahsan yesterday filed Mr Gilani's appeal against a different bench's order summoning him on February 13 for the framing on contempt of court charges.
The 200-page appeal pointed out more than 50 legal and constitutional points which support the view that the premier did not go against the Constitution by not reopening the cases against Mr Zardari.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry made the remarks while hearing Mr Gilani's appeal against an order summoning him on February 13 for the framing of charges in a contempt of court case for refusing to revive the cases against Mr Zardari.
Justice Chaudhry observed that the proceedings against Mr Gilani would end if he wrote a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen cases of alleged money laundering against Mr Zardari.
The person involved in these cases is the head of the Prime Minister's party but no one is above the law, Mr Chaudhry said.
The USD 60 million that was allegedly laundered will come back to Pakistan only if the letter is written to Swiss authorities, the bench said.
The eight-judge bench further directed Mr Gilani's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan to remove some "objectionable" paragraphs from Mr Gilani's appeal.
In these paragraphs, Mr Gilani had questioned the contempt case initiated against him even though he had freed several top judges who had been detained by the regime of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
Mr Ahsan yesterday filed Mr Gilani's appeal against a different bench's order summoning him on February 13 for the framing on contempt of court charges.
The 200-page appeal pointed out more than 50 legal and constitutional points which support the view that the premier did not go against the Constitution by not reopening the cases against Mr Zardari.
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