Pak SC hint at taking up Swiss letter case again spells more trouble for Zardari

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has hinted that it might again take up the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case to look into the outcome of case.

The bombshell was dropped by a three-judge bench hearing illegal appointments of NRO beneficiaries when Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked the prosecutor general of National Accountability Bureau whether after the disposal of the illegal appointments case the court might examine the possibilities about bringing back the money lying in Swiss banks, reports The Dawn.

Justice Chaudhry said that although the government had written a letter regarding reopening of Swiss cases, it would be necessary to know about the money.

Earlier on February 9 the Swiss attorney general, in response to the letter written by the government of former prime minister Raja Parvez Ashraf, had told the law ministry that the case against President Asif Ali Zardari could not be reopened because it had become time-barred under Swiss laws.

The government of Pakistan had dispatched the letter to Swiss legal authorities in the first week of November last year in line with the apex court order in the NRO case seeking revival of the graft case involving Zardari.

The letter was addressed to the Swiss attorney general and had been sent through the Foreign Office and the Pakistan's embassy in Switzerland.

The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder 12 million dollars allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts.

The Swiss shelved the case in 2008 when Zardari became president and the government had been insisting that the president has full immunity. But in 2009 the apex court overturned the NRO ordering that the cases be reopened.