Four legal brains rule the roost in the formulation of the new attacking government policy that Federal Law Minister Dr. Babar Awan will unveil in the Supreme Court on May 25. He is likely to spell out reasons for not writing letters to Switzerland to reopen money laundering cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, official sources said. They said that there is now total harmony, cohesion and coordination in the official legal team for the first time since the present government came in place otherwise leg pulling always continued in this domain that kept adding to its woes on the judicial front. The leader of the pack is the law minister, who has installed his preferred ones at all key legal posts. Attorney General Justice (Retd) Maulvi Anwaarul Haq is his nominee and advances his opinion. Babar wholeheartedly supports additional attorney general KK Agha, picked up for the job by President Asif Ali Zardari due to his old friendship, sources said. And, they said, even Irfan Qadir, the just appointed Prosecutor General of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), is unquestionably a choice of the law minister. They said that the real objective of ‘accountability that the government wanted stood achieved' as the new chief prosecutor would speak for the government and not for the NAB chairman and the NAB under which he was supposed to work and to take instructions from. NAB officials say on condition of anonymity that after the induction of the new prosecutor general any diligent pursuing of corruption cases in courts that Irfan Qadir would be dealing with is out of question. Sources said that it was obvious that the government's four-member core legal lineup comprising Awan, Anwaar ul Haq, Agha and Qadir constantly took guidelines from President Zardari. Their present prime task is to put hurdles in the way of implementation of the apex court ruling on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) especially the revival of the cases against the president. NAB officials say that the new prosecutor general doesn't approve the letters that NAB Chairman Navid Ahsan had written to Swiss authorities for reinstatement of the graft cases against Zardari as he is of the firm view that the president can't be prosecuted at home or abroad for any criminal or corruption charge under the Constitution. They say there is a great fear that in the days to come the NAB chief, who is currently on a weak wicket for having no top government functionary to fall back on, may disown arguments given by the prosecutor general in the Supreme Court or any other superior court that he found in conflict with his opinion on certain legal issues. Everyone now keenly awaits the submissions of the law minister before the apex court on May 25. Informed circles say that he would repeat his own and the government's stand that no letters would be written to Switzerland as the president enjoyed constitutional immunity from prosecution on criminal charges. But at the same time, they point out, the Supreme Court has heard this line of argument more than once before and had not agreed to the government's interpretation and rather emphasized on the implementation of its Dec 16, 2009 judgment. These circles say that Dr. Babar Awan will go to the apex court with the determined mind that he would not move from the government's considered opinion even if he had to face the contempt of court proceedings. “He would like to come out with a victory sign after becoming a political martyr,” one official said adding that disobedience to the judgment would earn contempt proceedings and subsequent conviction court that would disqualify him to hold any public office including the present one.
