A 17-member larger bench of Pakistan's Supreme Court will take up on May 25 a petition filed by the government seeking a review of the court's verdict annulling a graft amnesty that benefited president Asif Ali Zardari and thousands of others.
Apart from the government's petition, review petitions have also been filed by former attorney general Malik Qayyum, former National Accountability Bureau chairman Naveed Ahsan, former NAB prosecutor general Danishwer Malik and former NAB additional prosecutor general Abdul Baseer Qureshi.
In its review petition, the government said the reopening of graft cases against Zardari in Switzerland would be tantamount to a trial of his slain wife Benazir Bhutto's grave.
Zardari was one of the key beneficiaries of the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance, which was issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
The apex court scrapped the NRO in December, 2009.
"An order to reopen cases abroad would be tantamount to putting Benazir Bhutto's grave on trial, which is against all norms of justice, decency, morality and the law," said the review petition filed by the government through lawyer Kamal Azfar.
The petition said the government was criticized without being heard on several important issues in the apex court's verdict and this was in breach of the time-honoured judicial principle of natural justice.
The government filed a review petition on January 16 but it was returned by the apex court because of some technical objections.
The government subsequently filed an amended petition that defended the closure of proceedings against Zardari in Swiss courts.
The government also questioned the legality of mutual legal assistance in the context of the Swiss cases, saying a letter dated October 7, 1997, written by former attorney general Chaudhry Muhammad Farooq led to fallacious proceedings against Benazir Bhutto, her mother Nusrat Bhutto and Zardari.
The apex court will on May 25 also resume hearing a suo moto case on the implementation of its verdict annulling the NRO.
Law minister Babar Awan has been summoned to appear before a five-judge bench to explain why the government has not reopened the cases in Switzerland against Zardari.
