Pakistan court fixes hearing into graft amnesty

Pakistan Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Tuesday fixed the hearing into a graft amnesty law passed by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in a power-sharing deal with the slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, which ended dozens of corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and his cabinet ministers.

"All the petitions and connecting matters involving examination / interpretation of of National Reconciliation Ordinance 2007 be fixed before the larger Bench on 07th December, 2009," a court statement said.

The law expired on November 28 as the government faced criticism from allies and opposition parties. They alleged that the NRO, which gave amnesty to thousands of people including President Asif Ali Zardari and several of his cabinet ministers from corruption cases, if approved by the parliament, would amount to encouraging corruption in the country.

Though Zardari, being the president, enjoys immunity from legal proceedings, many leading politicians from his Pakistan People's Party government are likely to face courts.