Should Zardari be worried by the SC ruling?

Pakistan Supreme Court's historic judgement declaring the 2007 emergency as "unconstitutional" has put President Asif Ali Zardari in a fix as part of its ruling the apex court has struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Pakistan Supreme Court's historic judgement declaring the 2007 emergency as "unconstitutional" has put President Asif Ali Zardari in a fix as part of its ruling the apex court has struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

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The NRO gave immunity to Zardari from corruption charges, allowed his late wife Benazir Bhutto to return home from exile and has granted amnesty to politicians, bureaucrats and political workers accused of corruption, embezzlement, money laundering and even murder and terrorism, the News said.

The Supreme Court judgement gives just another 90 days starting today for parliament to either turn it into an Act or watch it dissolve.

The real test for the judgement would come when legal experts decide whether the benefits taken under NRO are legal in nature or are they transactions that shall be treated as past and closed.

This crucial issue, the paper said, is likely to be decided through a host of petitions that are likely to flood the courts in the coming days.

The NRO promulgated by former President Pervez Musharraf, was revoked by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Choudhry in 2007, but revived by his successor Abdul Hameed Dogar in February 2008.