Treason charge plea filed against Pak PM

A constitutional petition has been filed in a Pakistani court seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for allegedly committing "high treason" by defying orders of the Supreme Court and attempting to subvert the Constitution.

A man named Allah Baksh Gondal filed the petition in the public interest in Lahore high court on Tuesday through lawyer A K Dogar, who is also counsel for Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed.

Gondal contended that Gilani, by deliberate defying the Supreme Court's orders and through his repeated attempts to subvert the Constitution, had forfeited the "sacred trust" and ceased to hold his office by automatic operation of the provisions of Articles 5, 6 and 92(2) of the Constitution.

The federal government, Gondal said, had started a confrontation with the apex court after it struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a controversial graft amnesty, in December 2009. He contended that the government had not complied with directions repeatedly given by the apex court to write to Swiss authorities about reopening corruption cases against Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

He said the Pakistan People's Party's leaders called for a strike in Sindh and Zardari's aide Zulfiqar Mirza publicly attacked apex court judges.

The PPP also called a general strike and a protest day across Sindh against the apex court's judgment removing Justice Deedar Hussain Shah from the office of chairman of the National Accountability Bureau.

Gondal further said the premier had taken no step to implement a Lahore high court order wherein Zardari was expected to dissociate himself from the political office of PPP chief at the earliest. He said the high court's order also desired a halt to use of the presidency for political activities but the premier had not taken any action in this regard too.

He further alleged the President had assumed and exercised absolute powers and the prime minister was a "mere puppet in his hand". He added, "Thus the dictatorship of Zardari in garb of democracy has subverted the third pillar of the state, the parliament."