SC to hear NRO implementation case today

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) will hear the NRO implementation case today (Wednesday) while the government will submit its review plea against the Supreme Court’s October 11 decision of rejecting an urgent application of the federation, seeking postponement of hearing of the NRO review plea hearing until it found a replacement for its counsel, Barrister Kamal Azfar, who had been elevated to the position of adviser to the prime minister.

Advocate-on-Record Raja Abdul Ghafoor told media that the review plea was ready to be filed on Tuesday, however a Rs 10,000 fee draft, which was mandatory to be attached with the plea, could not be prepared on time.

He, however, said the plea would be filed today. He said as soon as the 17-member larger bench of the SC will assemble, the government would request it to hear its review plea before starting its review petition against the NRO verdict and implementation of the case.

The review plea maintains that the perception was wrong that the government was using delaying tactics in the review plea and implementation cases. It states that denying time to change the lawyer would be equal to depriving it of the right of review.

It also maintained that it was not usual to issue the notification of Kamal Azfar’s elevation as adviser to the prime minister on a holiday, adding that replacement of a lawyer was a valid reason for seeking more time from the court.

The SC had on Monday rejected the government’s application seeking postponement of hearing of the NRO review plea until it found a replacement for its counsel, and had suggested the government take back Azfar’s elevation notification. The court had observed that the government was prolonging the case unnecessarily.