Pak PM to appear in Supreme Court

Beleaguered Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will appear today before the Supreme Court to respond to a contempt notice issued to him on failing to reopen graft cases against the President.

Gilani would appear before a seven-judge bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk which summoned him to explain his refusal to write to Switzerland authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Special security arrangements have been put in place in Supreme Court. These include special security cameras that have been installed in court rooms and at entry gates and reception areas and special passes to regulate access to the court complex. Even journalists who regularly cover apex court proceedings will be allowed to enter with passes.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik yesterday reviewed security arrangements. He chaired a high-level meeting and instructed the Islamabad Police chief to stop general traffic in the Red Zone, a high-security area in the heart of the city, from midnight till proceedings are over in the court.

Malik ordered police to maintain three cordons of security around the Supreme Court. The entry will be manned by the court Security Police personnel and the outer cordons will be the responsibility of police and paramilitary personnel.

Gilani, who is already involved in a tussle with the powerful Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, is unlikely to offer apology to the court which has issued a contempt notice.

There is consensus among the top leadership of the ruling Pakistan People's Party on not apologising to the judiciary or writing a letter to Swiss authorities to revive cases of alleged money laundering against Zardari, sources told PTI.

Gilani's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, who will present the case in the court, maintained that the Prime Minister was not guilty of contempt of court.