ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani appeared before the Supreme Court on Thursday in the contempt of court case against him and cited immunity for not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities.

“Before me, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto also faced courts,” Gilani said. He added that the legal background to why he did not write the letter would be explained by his counsel Aitzaz Ahsan.

Ahsan said that the prime minister was advised by the Law Ministry to not write a letter against the president. “I had been publicly saying that writing the letter would not make any difference,” Ahsan said.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa observed the court could write his statement down, but Ahsan replied in the negative, stating that his position and merits of this case were different.

Ahsan added that he would establish from record that the prime minister acted bonafide in not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities.

Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmani observed the basis of establishing his bonafide was linked with the question of immunity under Article 248 of the Constitution.

“My case pertains to the issuance of contempt notice alone. I don’t raise the immunity issue before the court,” Ahsan said.

Ahsan said the media created an impression as if the court had already made up its mind against the prime minister. However, Justice Mulk said that he had not read a single article or watched a show since he took up the matter.

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