Pak SC refers to Indian SC verdicts to disqualify Gilani

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Pakistan's Supreme Court referred to two judicial verdicts by Indian apex court in its ruling disqualifying Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani following his conviction of contempt.

The four-page short order issued yesterday by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry referred to a total of eight judicial verdicts, including six by Pakistani courts and two by the Indian judiciary.

The references, included in the second paragraph of the order, mentioned the cases of "Jagjit Singh vs State of Haryana (AIR 2007 SC 590)" and "Rajendra Singh Rana vs Swami Prasad Maurya (AIR 2007 SC 1305)" without giving details.

The order said these eight judicial verdicts showed that the Supreme Court, while exercising the power of judicial review, could examine rulings given by the Speaker of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament.

The apex court on Tuesday disqualified Gilani in response to several petitions that had challenged National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza's decision not to disqualify the premier following his conviction of contempt.

The court ruled that the post of premier had been vacant since April 26, when another seven-judge bench had convicted Gilani of contempt for refusing to reopen graft cases in Switzerland against President Asif Ali Zardari.