Guest Post by Kruman
The single most important issue raised in the affidavit filed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was that the president did not have a reference from the Prime Minister when they met in the GHQ on March 9, 2007. The president has kept insisting that he merely performed his constitutional duty to forward the reference submitted by the Prime Minister to the SJC.
This statement by the president was challenged (by implication) in the affidavit filed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP). CJP’s affidavit stated that the president only had hand-written notes during their meeting on March 9th i.e. no reference had been submitted by the PM till then. This is a very serious allegation against the president as it implies that the presidential reference was prepared after the CJP refused to resign on March 9. It was expected that the PM would file an affidavit (in support of Musharraf’s position) clarifying that he (Shaukat Aziz) had submitted a reference to the president prior to the president/CJP meeting on march 9 2007.
Interestingly, Sharifuddin Pirzada stated this week in the Supreme Court hearings that if the reference was not forwarded by the PM then it should be nullified.
The affidavits filed by DG MI, DG IB and President’s Chief of Staff have circumvented the issue above. The most important player in this crisis, after the president and CJP, the Prime Minister has preferred to stay mum. All of these are ominous signs for the president, general Pervez Musharraf. In a meeting with his allies in the parliament he complained that he felt alone in the current crisis. His isolation seems to be growing.
Dillam dar aashiqi awarah shud, awara tar bada
Tanam as bay dilli baycharah shud, baychara tar badaMy heart is lost in love, may this state ever grow
I have gotten helpless in this state, may this helplessness ever grow
(Hazrat Amir Khusro)
From the court room … Justice Qayyum has been arguing that constitutionally the president was bound by the PM’s advice …
As a lawyer what I don’t understand how proving this constitutional point strengthens the govt’s case … Can some one enlighten me…
Ahsan – If two parties submit contradicting affidavits describing a certain situation in a court of law, then the court has two choices:
1. Select one of the affidavits and reject the other one.
2. Let the lawyers of both parties call both parties in the court and grill them in order to get the truth out.
@Aqil
LOL at u-sharraf
Aziz can only speak about finance when he deviates from his field he is very funny! now he is even failing miserably in finance planning with out of control inflation and total debt touching new high, he cant afford to jump in the CJP fiasco.
The president of PK and Chief Justice and the top officials are saysing entirely different stories. Obviously some of them a flatly lying. You guys have to figure out how those laiar and immoral people are able to climb to top in this country. Something seriously wrong with system.
What is the legal status of an affidavit according to Pakistani Law? Is it accepted or rejected in the absence of an affiant for cross examination before the court?