In an embarrassment for Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, a Pakistani court on Thursday ordered the government to present the notification of the of remission of interior minister Rehman Malik’s jail sentence awarded by an accountability court and upheld by the superior court. The Lahore high court — that upheld the sentence
pardoned hours later by Mr Zardari — ordered the government to present the notification of remission for a hearing to see if the presidential pardon was in line with the Constitution.
LHC judge Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry heard the petition of barrister Farooq Hassan against the presidential pardon. The petitioner contended that the remission of Mr Malik’s sentence by the President under Article 45 was illegal.