Adil Najam
In a rather shocking move, the President, Gen. Perzez Musharraf just dismissed the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry for alleged “misuse of authority.”
According to a breaking news segment at The News:
The president has submitted a case against Chaudhry to the Supreme Judicial Council. Musharraf had received “numerous complaints and serious allegations for misconduct, misuse of authority and actions prejudicial to the dignity of office of the chief justice of Pakistan,” and Chaudhry had been unable to give a satisfactory explanation, sources said. The report did not specify what he was accused of. The council is a panel of top Pakistani judges that adjudicates cases brought against serving judges and will decide whether the charges against Chaudhry merit his formal dismissal and whether he should be prosecuted.
Basing their story on the Associated Press of Pakistan, the BBC reports further:
Mr Chaudhry was summoned to explain himself to Gen Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. His case was then referred to the Supreme Judicial Council which will decide if Mr Chaudhry should be prosecuted.
The move has shocked many, but signs of its coming can now be identified in hindsight. Mr. Chaudhry had served as the Chief Justice since 2005 and, on occasion, had taken steps that had irked the power structure in Pakistan.
According to a Khaleej Times report, for example:
Last June, the Supreme Court rejected a government move to sell 75 percent of state-owned Pakistan Steel Mills to a Saudi-Russian-Pakistani consortium for 21.7 billion rupees ($362 million). Mill workers claimed it was greatly undervalued. Also, Chaudhry has heard a landmark case brought by relatives of dozens of people believed taken into secret custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies. The chief justice has pressed the government to provide information on the detainees whereabouts. Talat Masood, a political analyst, said the removal of Chaudhry demonstrated the power of the military and suggested that Musharraf’s government wanted to have a “pliable judiciary” ahead of parliamentary elections expected later this year. Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1999, is widely expected to seek another five-year term as president from parliament this fall.
Recently, an open letter from Advocate Naeem Bokhari addressed to the Chief Justice and making a number of allegations against him – some personal – has been circulating on the internet extensively. Over the last week, I received probably two dozen emails with that letter in it (many from our readers, and one from my mother!). It seems to have created a stir. Many readers have been writing that we do a post on that letter. I had not done so, just because the letter was a little puzzling to me and its motivations were not clear. I wondered also if there were hints of personal rivalries or issues. On the other hand it was a well-written and seemingly sincere letter from a person of known integrity. In retrospect, the way the letter ended was prophetic:
My Lord, this communication may anger you and you are in any case prone to get angry in a flash, but do reflect upon it. Perhaps you are not cognizant of what your brother judges feel and say about you. My Lord, before a rebellion arises among your brother judges (as in the case of Mr. Justice Sajjad Ali Shah), before the Bar stands up collectively and before the entire matter is placed before the Supreme Judicial Council, there may be time to change and make amends. I hope you have the wisdom and courage to make these amends and restore serenity, calm, compassion, patience and justice tempered with mercy to my Supreme Court. My Lord, we all live in the womb of time and are judged, both by the present and by history. The judgement about you, being rendered in the present, is adverse in the extreme.
In all honesty, one has to wonder, however, whether it was that letter and other recent media focus on the Chief Justice that led to the removal of the Chief Justice, or whether these were merely instruments designed to prepare the way for this removal?
In either case, a removal of the Chief Justice in this way and for such reasons and at this time is a sad, sad development that will be one more blow to the hopes of the development of an independent judiciary in Pakistan.
Note: At various points we have reproduced, in our right-most column, cartoons from Daily Times (and here) and The News.
Still not sure why Justice Bhagwan Das prefers to remain away from all this. At least he should return to the country.
so its no big deal if the head of the institution responsible for upholding a nation’s law gets his son appointed in the institution responsible for enforcing the law? i guess then its perfectly acceptable for musharraf to appoint his son in the army or the defense ministry and for shaukat aziz to appoint his son in the privatisation division? and how about bringing back zardari as the minister of investment? did work brilliantly the first time.
i think this judge has shown a very serious lack of judgement and complete lack of ethics in pushing for his son’s appointment. i wonder what else is hidden in that closet? and sure the govt did oblige the judge but that was to be expected because the government would want to have a judge who would be dependent on it for favours. the judge surely cant be stupid enough to think that on one hand he can demand favours from govt and not do anything in return? he made his bed. he must now lie on it. good riddance.
The removal of the Chief Justice in such a ghastly manner seems to be purely a consequence of clash of interests. The allegations raised against him are propostrous. i cant believe from the suo moto actions he was taking that he was insane and devoid of good conduct or honest conviction. I regret to say that it’s most of the lawyers in Pakistan who are acting unscrupulously in their profession and toward their clients. They are fleecing people yet not fulfilling their bound duties for the work they charge for. There is no accountability for such rogue lawyers and I never saw any lawyer being sued for bad conduct and professional dishonesty either by the Bar Council or any other forum. I have also seen some of the rogue lawyers reaching to higher positions in the judiciary. The more a lawyer lies the higher he gets on the rung of success. If such lawyers are allowed to climb up to the heights of power how can one expect justice to come to our country?
As for the removal of the CJ, I think his removal is apprently outrageous in so much as the modus operandi adopted.
I suggest some stricter law and simple procedure be formulated to control the conduct of the ”rogue lawyers” , the Bar Council not being an independent body cannot be relied upon for fairness.
a victim of rogue lawyers
Name of Shareefuddin Peerzada is being mentioned as well. Is this the same guy who was with Mr.Jinnah[not sure] as well?
Prof. Najam, if you ever want a case study n how to mess up a political situation even more than it already is, you could use this report from NATION on where things are now on this case. It makes shocking reading.
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Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Sunday demanded an open trial of charges levelled against him in the presidential reference, as he stayed under house arrest for a consecutive third day.
Chief Justice said this to Tehrik-I-Istiqlal Chief Air Marshal (Retd) Asghar Khan who managed to meet him at his residence this evening after a struggle of 48 hours.
Earlier, during the day, a PML-N delegation led by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan failed to meet the Chief Justice as the security personnel did not allow them to enter the CJ’s residence.
Following Asghar Khan’s meeting, four judges of the Supreme Court namely Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Syed Jamshaid Ali, Justice Raja Fiaz Ahmed and Justice Nasirulmulk were also allowed to meet the Chief Justice.
At the same time, the government sources claimed that the justices tried to find a way out of the crisis but it was learnt that the suspended chief justice was not ready to change his principled stand.
However, the senior judges of the Supreme Court who met the suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry at his residence remained totally tight-lipped over the objective and outcome of their meeting.
When contacted by TheNation Asghar Khan said, “He (CJ) has sought an open trial of the reference filed against him so that the masses could know the factual realities. I remained with him for half an hour and nobody forced me to leave.â€