ISLAMABAD: Attorney General (AG) Maulvi Anwaarul Haq says the onus of proving Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s innocence in the contempt of court case lies on the shoulders of his lawyer Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan.

“There is not much burden on the prosecution to establish that Gilani committed contempt; more important is that the prime minister has to prove that he did not perpetrate it,” the attorney general, who has been appointed as prosecutor by the Supreme Court in the case, said.

Way back in 1997, Haq, as deputy attorney general, had assisted the then Attorney General, Chaudhry Mohammed Farooq, in the contempt proceedings against the prime minister of the day, Nawaz Sharif, before the apex court. However, his role was not as key and vital as it was now.

Haq said when he was called by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk led seven-member bench in the contempt case, he was asked to “assist” it. However, the notice he received under the Supreme Court rules ordained him to “conduct” the contempt proceedings.

To a question, the attorney general said there was a lot of difference between “assisting” the court and “conducting” the proceedings. There are different rules dealing with the two roles.

The apex court takes up the high profile contempt case on Feb.28, when another Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry would open hearing on another highly significant but old petition filed by Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan on allegedly providing funds to favourite politicians by the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) over a decade ago to enable them to run their election campaign effectively against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidates.

Gilani faces contempt of court for not writing letters to Switzerland seeking reopening of money laundering cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, as ordered in the Dec.16, 2009 judgment against the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Asked about the voluminous evidence that he has submitted to the seven-member bench in the contempt case, the attorney general said that it comprised the main court decision against the NRO and subsequent orders issued by different benches, directing compliance of the original verdict.