Jan.20, 2010

Watan Party Pakistan has re-filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, requesting to the court not to pass any order for revival or registration of any case against President Asif Ali Zardari in or outside Pakistan.

WPP president Barrister Zafarullah Khan filed the petition last week before the Supreme Court, contending that the apex court had erred in its short order on December 16 last year by issuing directions to re-open the money laundering cases against president Zardari in the Swiss courts, but the registrar’s office returned the petition after affixing objections that no fundamental right of the petitioner was violated as he had no locus standi to file this constitutional petition.

The petitioner, in reply to the objections, has stated in the petition that every political party had constitutional right to see that all institutions were working and obeying Tri-chotomy of powers principle.

Reiterating that the SC should not have ordered reopening of money laundering cases against president Zardari, the petitioner said Zardari was the President of Pakistan and enjoyed absolute immunity from prosecution under article 248 of the constitution.

He said the SC had not followed principle of Trichotomy of power as it had ruled that the SC had power to issue directives to the federal government.

He said these cases were past and closed transactions, and the SC’s order suffered from the jurisdiction of separation of powers. He said the head of the state of a country could not be tried in another country under principle of International Immunities of a Head of State.