News
Saturday, August 02, 2008
President can’t enjoy infinite powers: SC
* Law, Interior ministries tell SC commutation of death term still under consideration
* Hearing of suo motu notice put off for unspecified timeBy Masood Rehman
ISLAMABAD: A president cannot enjoy infinite powers in an Islamic welfare state, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar said on Friday while hearing a suo motu notice against the government’s move to commute death sentences to life imprisonments. Comprising a three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC), which included justices Chaudhry Ejaz Yousaf and Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery, he said that while the Queen of England enjoyed certain powers of pardon, even those were limited. Similarly, Justice Yousaf said that in cases pertaining to ‘diyyat’ and ‘qissas’, the power to commute death sentences did not lie with the state, but with the legal heirs of the victims. Explanations: Appearing on notice, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Raja Abdur Rehman told the court that the federal law and interior ministries had already explained their positions in written replies. He said the government’s move to commute death sentences to life terms was still under consideration and a final decision had not been taken thus far. In a reply explaining its position, the Law Ministry said that the matter was still under consideration and the federal government had passed no order to abolish the death sentence yet. Similarly, the Interior Ministry’s reply said that while no final decision had been taken as yet, the president had the power to pardon or commute a death sentence under Article 45 of the constitution. Speaking on behalf of the Interior Ministry, the DAG also said that a summary on the matter had been sent to the prime minister. Adjourned: Justice Khokhar asked the DAG to provide a timeframe on how long it would take the government to examine the complications arising in the case. Rehman requested the court to grant him some time to get instructions from the government before he submitted a statement before the court. The court accepted this request after directing the federation to submit details about the matter, and adjourned the proceedings without fixing a future date of hearing. Earlier, Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar had taken suo motu notice of a news item about a government move to commute the death sentences of 7,000 convicts to life imprisonments. Notices were accordingly issued to the federation and the attorney general. The debate over the death penalty had already raised protests from the country’s political and religious parties who claimed that only the legal heirs of the victims had the right to revoke the death sentence. The move to commute all death sentences to life imprisonments was suggested by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as part of a birthday tribute for assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto.
Courtesy DailyTimes