[JURIST] A federal court in Pakistan on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for former Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] following the presentation of a final charge sheet by the country’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) [official website]. The warrant [The Indian Express report] issued for Gilani and fellow Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) [official website] leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim [official profile] concerns their alleged involvement [Tribune report] in the Trade Development Authority (TDAP) scandal in which trade subsidies amounting to millions of rupees were disbursed to several fake companies. Gilani stands accused of approving and disbursing the subsidies.

The past few years have been fraught with legal troubles for the former prime minister. The Supreme Court convicted [JURIST report] Gilani of contempt of court in 2012 for disobeying a court order to open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. The court charged and issued a summons demanding Gilani appear [JURIST reports] in February 2012. The month prior, Gilani honored previously issued summons by appearing before the Supreme Court to answer contempt charges [JURIST reports] and explain why he failed to purse corruption charges against Zardari, who is accused of using Swiss bank accounts to fund bribes. The conflict between the prime minister and the court stems from an order that struck down [JURIST report] the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) [text] in 2009, which granted immunity to Zardari and 8,000 other government officials from charges of corruption, embezzlement, money laundering, murder and terrorism between January 1986 and October 1999. These proceedings reflect an ongoing struggle between the government and the courts in Pakistan. In December 2011, the Supreme Court formed a judicial committee to investigate a secret memo [JURIST report] sent from an unknown Pakistani source to US Admiral Mike Mullen in May asking for help in preventing a suspected army coup.