Contempt case: Pak PM appears in Supreme Court

Islamabad: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf appeared in Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday to face a contempt charge.

A day before the prime minister's second appearance in the top court, the government once again hinted that it has no plans to reopen graft cases against the President.

"The Prime Minister is expected to go to the court tomorrow. However, there is no change in the government's position that the cases against President Asif Ali Zardari will not be revived," the aide, who did not wish to be named, said on Monday evening.

At the last hearing on August 27, a five-judge bench accepted Ashraf's plea for more time to address the issue of reopening the cases against Zardari and gave him three weeks.

The bench directed the premier to personally appear at the next hearing.

Ashraf is the second premier to appear in the apex court to face a contempt charge for refusing to revive the cases against Zardari in Switzerland.

His predecessor, Yousuf Raza Gilani, was convicted of contempt and disqualified in June.

Law Minister Farooq Naek met the premier on Monday ahead of the hearing, officials said.

The Supreme Court has been pressuring the government to revive the cases against the president since December 2009, when it struck down a graft amnesty issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf that benefited Zardari and over 8,000 others.

The government has refused to act, saying the president enjoys immunity in Pakistan and abroad.

The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and some legal experts have accused the apex court of acting in a biased manner by going after only Zardari while ignoring the other beneficiaries of the graft amnesty.

Legal experts also believe that the apex court and the government are running out of options and this could lead to a confrontation between the two institutions.

The PPP has said it is willing to nominate other persons to become the premier if Ashraf is disqualified.