PM not convicted according to charge: Aitzaz

ISLAMABAD: The counsel for Prime Minister in the contempt of court case Aitzaz Ahsan said Thursday that the Supreme Court charged Gilani for scandalizing the court which was not in the charges framed.

“The prime minister was not convicted according to charges,” Aitzaz told reporters during a news conference alongside Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira.

The counsel for Prime Minister Gilani said the order condemned his client for judicial and criminal contempt adding that “new charges warrant a new trial.”

A decision has been made by the Prime Minister,cabinet and coalition partners that an appeal would be filed against the contempt conviction which would go before a larger bench, Ahsan said.

The PM’s counsel further said that he would seek suspension of the verdicts operation and they had 30 days to file an appeal.

Ahsan clarified that under the order there was no automatic or immediate disqualification for the Prime Minister.

Earlier the Supreme Court found Prime Minister Gilani guilty of contempt for his refusal to write to Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against President Zardari.