The court assured PM Raja that it would settle this matter with the authorized person as it is ready to address their concerns on presidential immunity as well. The five-member bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa could have waved the green flag on Monday itself had the Prime Minister committed to either of the two options presented to him.  

During the hearing, the court kept asking Raja Ashraf to commit to implement the NRO judgment delivered in December last year, but the premier remained reluctant. Justice Khosa said, “If you will not give a commitment then law will take its own course.”

However, Raja Ashraf stated that he would take serious efforts to understand and settle the issue. The court also said they wanted the government to write a letter to the Swiss authorities and ignore the one previously written by former attorney general Malik Qayyum. The court only wanted implementation of para 178 of the NRO judgment in letter and spirit. “We don’t like to prosecute anyone and neither mentioned anyone’s name in the judgment.”

Raja Pervez Ashraf is the second Prime Minister to face a contempt charge for refusing to revive the corruption cases against Zardari in Switzerland. His predecessor, Yousuf Raza Gilani, was convicted of contempt and disqualified in June.  Ashraf asked the bench to take back the show cause notice for contempt of court that was issued to him on August 8 as it could have an adverse impact on his upcoming visit to China.

However, the judges did not accede to his request. Justice Khosa said the premier had come to the court not as an accused but as the premier of an honourable nation.

The Supreme Court has been asking the PPP led coalition government to revive the cases against the President since December 2009, when it struck down a graft amnesty that benefited Zardari and over 8,000 others. The government stuck to the stand that as the President Asif Ali Zardari enjoys immunity in Pakistan and abroad.

While sections of Pakistani civil society view the judicial insistence as judicial over reach, impartial observers are amused at the muddled way the PPP leadership has been dealing the case. Humility and frankness could have saved the hiccups the government and the nation as a whole experienced. Because it is not an everyday occurrence that the apex court sends the chief political executive that is the prime minister packing home.