The bench rejected the request of senior government lawyer Kamal Azfar, as he argued that the government did not approach him yet. Azfar asked for time to consult the centre before pleading the case, as the bench refused any other counsel for presenting it. Justice Chaudhry warned Azfar that the court would reject the review petition if he was not able to plead.
Additional Attorney General KK Agha asked the bench to allow him to represent the government in the case but he was refused and was directed to 'sit down on his seat'. Meanwhile, Azfar asked for more time as he needed directions from the government to present evidences.
The CJP in his remarks said the court accepted Latif Khosa as Azfar's replacement because he was made adviser to prime minister on disaster management hence, he is no longer an advisor and Khosa has become governor Punjab and Azfar has to plead the case.
A 17-member full court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry comprising Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani, Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali, Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Tariq Parvez, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Ghulam Rabbani heard review petitions of the federation, Malik Qayyum former Attorney Genera, Abdul Baseer Qureshi deputy prosecutor General NAB, Former Chairman NAB and Danishwar Malik, filed against NRO verdict on Monday.
Kamal Azfar, who had pleaded the case in the main petition against the NRO, was replaced by Sardar Latif Khosa who took charge after Azfar was made adviser to the prime minister on disaster management. However, court rules make it mandatory that a lawyer who argues the main case could only plead in review petition. Since Khosa has been made governor of Punjab after the assassination of Salmaan Taseer on January 04, he will not be available to plead the government case, so the federation contended that Dr Khalid Ranjha would argue the petition but the court rejected the request.
Kamal Azfar contended that he was shocked when he received the court notices for appearance in this case. The court directed Kamal Azfar that he should take instructions from the federation and argue the review petition on Tuesday, adding that the court would not allow Khalid Ranjha to appear before the court as counsel for the federation.
Waseem Sajjad, the lawyer for former Attorney General Malik Abdul Qayyum appeared before the court and contended that he would argue the review petition as his client is out of country and is not able to appear before the court due to illness. Sajjad said that hiring of counsel is the basic right of a petitioner, so the court may allow him to argue the case.
The court observed that Malik Qayyum already had appeared before the court so no one can appear in the court on his behalf, adding that law is same for every lawyer. The bench told Waseem Sajjad that he can help Malik Qayyum during the proceedings only.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry remarked that it seems that the federation is not interested in this case, adding that court was not provided complete record of the NRO case. The CJ said that the NAB chairman and prosecution officials did not cooperate as well, adding that some information regarding the NRO case has not been brought before the court.
A counsel appeared before the court on behalf of former chairman NAB Naveed Ahsan but the court did not allow him to appear before the court and said that Naveed Ahsan has to appear before the court in person because he himself has filed the review petition in the court. During the hearing, Advocate Khalid Ranjha appeared before the court on behalf of former prosecutor general NAB Danishwar Malik and contended that his client is on bed rest due to heart bypass, so the court may allow him to appear but it didn't. The court adjourned the hearing till Tuesday.