It also aims to reduce the powers of the Supreme Court, with some authorities shifted to the proposed Constitutional Court, and immunity to the president from criminal proceedings for life.
Swiss authorities cannot open graft cases against Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari under an order from the supreme court, Law Minister Farooq Naek has said.
Pakistani Law Minister Farooq Naek on Monday met Indian death-row prisoner Sarabjit Singh at the Lahore's Kot Lakhpath Jail to review his case following the Indian government's appeal for clemency for him.
Pakistani Law Minister Farooq Naek will meet Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh on Monday to review his case, following the Indian government's appeal for clemency for him, official sources said, raising hopes of his release. Sarabjit, 42, has been on death row since he was convicted for alleged involvement in four bomb attacks that killed 14 people in Punjab province in 1990. His family insists that he was wrongly convicted for the bombings.
Signalling that it was ready for a showdown with President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's new government has said that the 'extra-constitutional steps' taken by him during emergency rule last year are not part of the Constitution, as Parliament is yet to endorse them. Naek said the coalition government led by the Pakistan People's Party is committed to reinstating the judges sacked by Musharraf, including former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
A Swiss investigation officer gave a six-month suspended sentence and fined each US $50,000 after a five-year inquiry into a corruption case.
After weeks of wrangling, Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday approved a third draft of a letter that will ask Swiss authorities to revive graft cases against Asif Ali Zardari, with the government making it clear that any proceedings in that country would be conditional to the immunity available to the president.
Pakistan appears headed for another political crisis as the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party has decided not to exclude the clause of presidential immunity from a letter to be sent to Swiss government on reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari despite the supreme court's objection to it.
Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday warned that it would resume contempt proceedings against Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf if the government does not finalise by October 5 a letter to be sent to Swiss authorities for reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The apex court, hearing a contempt case against Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf over reopening of graft cases against Zardari, adjourned the matter for a day after the government sought time to make changes to the draft.
Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Tuesday informed Pakistan's supreme court that the government would revoke a former attorney general's letter to Swiss authorities for the closure of graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Friday objected to contents of a fresh draft of a letter to be sent to Swiss authorities over graft charges against President Asif Ali Zardari and gave government time till October 10 to finalise it in accordance with its order that sought revival of the cases.
Ignoring India's assertions that Islamabad should not interfere in its affairs, Pakistan's Parliament decided on Tuesday to set up a panel to monitor human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir and mobilise world opinion in support of the 'right of self-determination' for Kashmiri people.
The Pakistan government is giving finishing touches to a sweeping constitutional amendment package that will clip President Pervez Musharraf's powers and pave the way for reinstating judges sacked by him last year, an issue that has imperiled the fragile ruling coalition. The package, which will be tabled in parliament as the 18th Constitution Amendment Bill before the forthcoming budget session, would balance the powers between the President and the Prime Minister.
The petitioner argued that the people of Pakistan had a right of retribution.
Amid continuing speculation that elements backed by the security establishment are working to delay Pakistan's general election, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Thursday said there could be 'no room for any delay' in holding the polls.
A bill aimed at shielding top Pakistani leaders from contempt charges and curbing the apex court's efforts to push Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf into reopening graft cases against the President has been approved by the lower house of Parliament.
"I will study his case. As far as pardoning him is concerned, a decision will be made in line with the law and the constitution. The final decision will be made by the Prime Minister and the President," said Naek, whose first meeting with Sarabjit at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail on Monday has sparked fresh hopes of the Indian's release.
Pakistan's former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was on Friday charged along with six others in the Rs 22 billion Rental Power Scam by a court in Islamabad.
Pakistan's former president Asif Ali Zardari was on Tuesday acquitted in a corruption case dating back to the 1990s when his slain wife Benazir Bhutto was prime minister.
A larger bench of the apex court -- comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail -- took up the matter after Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejected the move to dislodge the prime minister by declaring the no-trust motion unmaintainable due to its link with a so-called foreign conspiracy.
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