ISLAMABAD, May 8:
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani faces the prospect of being disqualified as an MP for five years after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled today that he “wilfully, deliberately and persistently” defied the Highest Court and brought the judiciary into “ridicule”.
A seven-judge bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk issued a 77-page detailed order regarding the conviction of the premier for refusing to act on directives to revive cases of alleged money laundering against President Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland.
Earlier, the same bench had issued a short order when it convicted Gilani of contempt and gave him a symbolic sentence of less than a minute on April 26.
Even in the short order, the bench had hinted that Gilani faced possible disqualification.
The apex Court referred to an earlier order it had issued on January 10, which had said that under provisions of Articles 63(1) and 113 of the Constitution, a conviction of contempt “may entail a disqualification from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament) or a Provincial Assembly for at least a period of five years”.
The seven-judge bench enumerated reasons for the conviction of the 56-year-old premier and analysed the evidence that was presented during his trial in the detailed order.
The detailed order said “the highest executive functionary of the State of Pakistan” had “wilfully, deliberately and persistently defied a clear direction of the Highest Court of the country”.
Such “clear and persistent defiance at such a high level constitutes contempt which is substantially detrimental to the administration of justice” and brings the judiciary into ridicule, it said.
“After all, if orders or directions of the Highest Court of the country are defied by the highest executive of the country, then others in the country may also feel tempted to follow the example, leading to a collapse or paralysis of administration of justice, besides creating an atmosphere wherein judicial authority and verdicts are laughed at and ridiculed,” the detailed order said.
Former Law Minister Wasi Zafar told the media that Gilani’s case would now go to the Speaker of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament.
The Speaker will decide whether the matter should be referred to the Chief Election Commissioner, he said.
If the Speaker decides to send the matter to the CEC, then the Election Commission will decide on the issue of disqualification, Zafar said.
Gilani, who today embarked on a five-day official visit to Britain, has rejected demands from the opposition for his resignation after his conviction.
He has said that only the Speaker of the National Assembly can decide on his disqualification.
Under the existing rules, the Speaker has 30 days to consider the issue of disqualification, following which the Election Commission has a further 90 days to decide the issue if it is referred to the panel.
The Supreme Court has been pressuring the Government to revive the cases against Zardari since December 2009, when it struck down a graft amnesty issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
The Government has refused to act, saying the President enjoys complete immunity in Pakistan and abroad.
The apex Court’s detailed order could exacerbate the ongoing standoff between the Pakistan People’s Party-led Government and the judiciary, which some commentators have accused of acting in an impartial manner against Zardari and Gilani. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, May 8:
The Supreme Court today directed the Government to phase out Haj subsidy within a period of 10 years, saying that this amount can be more profitably used for social and educational development of the Muslim community.
A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai quoted Quran to justify doing away with the subsidy, which was around Rs 685 crores in 2011, noting that many Muslims would not be very “comfortable” to know that their Haj is funded to a large extent by the Government.
“We are also not oblivious of the fact that in many other purely religious events there are direct and indirect deployment of state funds and state resources. Nevertheless, we are of the view that Haj subsidy is something that is best done away with,” the bench said.
The Centre at present foots an amount of Rs.38,000 per Haji by giving subsidised airfare.
The bench fixed a time frame of ten years for gradually eliminating subsidies to Haj pilgrims. Last year, about 1.25 lakh pilgrims went for Haj.
“We, therefore, direct the Central Government to progressively reduce the amount of subsidy so as to completely eliminate it within a period of 10 years from today. The subsidy money may be more profitably used for upliftment of the community in education and other indices of social development,” the bench observed.
“This Court has no claim to speak on behalf of all the Muslims of the country and it will be presumptuous for us to try to tell the Muslims what is for them a good or bad religious practice.
“Nevertheless, we have no doubt that a very large majority of Muslims applying to the Haj Committee for going to Haj would not be aware of the economics of their pilgrimage and if all the facts are made known a good many of the pilgrims would not be very comfortable in the knowledge that their Haj is funded to a substantial extent by the Government,” the bench said.
The bench also directed that the practice of sending Government’s representative with the Haj delegation must be stopped.
“We fully appreciate the idea of the people of India extending their goodwill to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the auspicious occasion of Haj but we completely fail to see how even that purpose can be served by sending such a large, unwieldy, amorphous and randomly selected delegation. On a careful consideration of the issue we are quite clear that the present practice of sending Goodwill Haj Delegation must come to stop,” the bench said.
It further said that the Centre can send a leader and a deputy leader in the course of Haj to send a message of goodwill to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The bench said that Government had started sending Goodwill Delegation to meet the anti-India propaganda which is not needed at present and now it is used for other purposes.
“It is no secret that after the 1965 war Pakistan tried to use even the Haj pilgrimage for anti-India propaganda and the purpose of sending the Goodwill Delegation was to meet the anti-India propaganda.
“The reason for which the delegation was first sent has long ceased to exist and Pakistan is no longer sending any official Goodwill Haj Delegation to Saudi Arabia. It may, however, be contended that with the passage of time the purpose of the delegation has changed and in the changed circumstances the delegation serves other objects and purpose,” the bench said.
The court said that there is no “reasonable basis” for the nomination to the Goodwill Delegation of around 27 people which “evidently” works on patronage and granting of favours.
“From the list of the members of the Goodwill Delegation for a period of 10 years no rational basis is discernible for selecting members for the delegation. The list shows a disparate group of persons randomly put together from various professions and walks of life.
“What is more surprising is that there are some people who were able to go as member of the Goodwill Delegation more than once, some even three or four times. In the absence of a reasonable basis the nomination to the Goodwill Delegation evidently works on patronage and granting of favours,” it said.
The bench also asked the Government to furnish details on how its quota is allocated to applicants on recommendation by dignitaries and eminent persons saying that “We have some initial reservations on allocation of seats on recommendation by dignitaries and eminent persons”.
“We direct the Union of India to file further affidavit stating in greater detail the way the quota of 11,000 seats is being allocated for 2012 Haj. We would also like to know in greater detail the procedure followed by the Haj Committee of India and the state Haj committees in making selection for sending pilgrims for Haj,” the bench said.
It said that it would “specially” like to examine the functioning of the Haj Committees of the States where the number of applicants exceed the quota allotted for the state.
“We direct the Haj Committee of India to file a detailed affidavit giving full details of the process of selection of pilgrims from the applications made to the State Haj Committees. The affidavit should also give details of the charges realized from the pilgrims and the facilities made available to them,” the bench said. (PTI)

Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 8: An India and Pakistani joint team of Arbitration experts today visited the dam site of the 330-MW Kishanganga hydro-power project in Gurez near the Line of Control (LoC) in the frontier district of Bandipora.
An 8 member joint team of the two countries, mostly hydraulic experts, arrived in Gurez this morning in Air Force helicopters and visited the dam site, the construction for which is yet to start.
The team was in Gurez for about an hour during which they inspected the site to monitor the implementation of the order of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague on the construction of the power house.
The team comprised 3 Pakistani and 5 Indian officials. They included Aisf Beg, technical expert Government of Pakistan, Shamilla Mehmood, Legal Counsel Government of Pakistan, Dr Mooris of United States, Technical Expert of Government of Pakistan, G Aranganathan, Commissioner Indus, Ministry of Water Resources Government of India, P Davinder Rao, Deputy commissioner Indus, Ministry of Water Resources Government of India, Professor Ranga Raju, Technical Expert Government of India, Rajive Baboota, Chief Engineer NHPC and Vishal Siani, Chief Engineer NHPC.
The team is scheduled to visit the dam site in October this year again as part of the court order.
Pakistan claims that the project violates Indus Water Treaty between the two countries. The hydropower project is being built on Kishanganga river, which flows into Pakistan. It is likely to be completed in February, 2014.
Pakistan claims that with the construction of the 330-MW Kishanganga hydropower project, around 100 kilometers of river Neelam will dry up as water will be diverted to river Jhelum through Wullar Lake near Bandipur town.
Pakistan argues that such a diversion contravenes the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, which would compromise Pakistan’s rights over the river and reduce the flow of water into Pakistan significantly.
It may be mentioned here that Pakistan had approached Court of Arbitration in Hague to stop India from constructing any permanent works on or above the Kishanganga/Neelum River bed at the Gurez site that may inhibit the restoration of the flow of the river to its natural channel.
The court had ordered that Pakistan and India arrange for periodic joint inspections of the dam site at Gurez in order to monitor the implementation of the Court’s Order. Today’s visit was part of the visit under court order to monitor its implementation.