Adil Najam
In a highly anticipated and awaited verdict, the Pakistan Supreme Court just declared the steps taken by then President Gen. Pervez Musharraf illegal. The details of the decision read out by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry are still filtering in and the implications of the decision are still not fully clear. I am still grappling with what this will actually mean in implementation and would love to hear from you what you think it will mean?
It is clear from the judgment that this does NOT change the legality of the current government or of the oath taken by President Zardari. But will it effect only the judiciary decisions (judges and how many) or does it have farther reaching impacts. My sense is, it will. But I am not fully clear just yet what these will be, and how. With this decision, it seems the Supreme Court and Chief Justice are back in the news big time and maybe more than just the rhetoric will heat up!
According to details (still coming in) in The News:
The Supreme Court of Pakistan Friday declared the steps taken on November 3, 2007 by former president Pervez Musharraf as unconstitutional. The judgment came after the 14-judge larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry completed the hearing of constitutional petitions regarding PCO judges, appointments of judges of higher judiciary and November 3, 2007 steps.
The Supreme Court in its short verdict declared the steps of November 3, 2007 taken by former president Pervez Musharraf as unconstitutional. Article 279 of the Constitution was violated on November 3, 2007, it said.
It termed as illegal and unconstitutional the sacking of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and the other higher judiciary as well as the appointment of Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar as chief justice.
The oath taken by President Asif Ali Zardari will not be affected by the SC verdict, is said. All the appointments made in the higher judiciary of Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar have been termed illegal. It termed as unconstitutional all the appointments of judges during November 3, 2007 to March 24, 2008. It said the strength of Supreme Court judges will remain 17. It declared unconstitutional all the steps taken by Pervez Musharraf during November 3, 2007 to December 15, 2007 including the increasing of number of superior judges through finance bill.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry announced the verdict.
The verdict said all the appointments of judges on and after November 3, 2007 under PCO were unconstitutional. The case of PCO judges will be referred to the Supreme Judicial Council, it said. The announcement of today’s verdict sent a wave of jubilation outside the Supreme Court and at all the bar associations. Sweets are being distributed as people and lawyers are chanting slogans in support of the judiciary. The 14-judge larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry reserved the judgment after completing the hearing of the case and announced it after a delay of over four and a half hour.
Salams all,( To all musharraf fans and the other fans of rule of LAW)
Most pro musharraf people are questioning the integrity of Justice Iftikhar…for two reasons
1. He himself took oath under LFO
2.He was a victim of musharraf’s actions so a party to the case.
Valid points … but becomes invalid for four reasons.
1. Musharraf got all the decision in his favor from judges who where beneficiaries of his actions. ( sent Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui ) which makes all his rule illegal.
2. Agreed Justice Iftikhar does nto have a clean history—- took oath under PCO(LFO) earlier but this case is different since the other PCO was validated by the parliament ( read people) and this LFO was rejected been almost 1.5 years and it has not been voted upon in parliament.
3. When both DOGAR and IFTIKHAR are not fit then let the Constitution decide who is right. Constitution by the way is supreme. Article 6, clearly defines high treason and clearly Musharraf comitted “HIGH TREASON”
Which btw is in line with the decision of Justice Iftikhar.
4. Let the people of Pakistan decide… i think i can safely challenge DOGar and Musharraf to go to any area of Pakistan in any province without protection and see what people think of them. Pakistan belongs to the people of Pakistan and they have the right to decide.
But still i can smell doctrine of necessity in this order. I think the victory is yet to come. I am waiting for the day Musharraf will be ( wishful thinking …stoned to death..people should take revenge from a dictator themselves) hanged and in future no wardi wala BA****D will be able to decide the fate of Pakistani Nation.
And i also wait for the day when Zardari and the likes will eb punished according to their crimes and People of Pakistan will rule this beautiful land .
Pakistan Zindabad… Musharraf Murdabad….Zardari aur doosray lutairay Murdabad
The decision of Supreme Court as projected by media is the biggest Fraud in Judicial History of Pakistan when it says that PCO judges have been sent home. PCO Judges are still working and non PCO judges have been sacked, packed and sent home. The beneficiaries of the recent judgment are Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Mr. Justice Javed Iqbal, Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Mr. Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday Mr. Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Mr. Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani etc. All these judges violated the constitutional oath and took fresh oath under the PCO of General Musharaf after Pakistan army ousted Nawaz Sharif in October of 1999.
The other set of PCO judges are Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Justice Javed Buttar etc. including other judges in High Courts who took oath under the PCO on 3rd of November 1999. All of them are judges even today and are still continuing.
Interestingly the judges who have been sent home had never taken oath under any PCO. Most of these Judges were not even appointed in General Musharaf
@Watan Aziz
Every case is viewed uniquely and clever wordplay cannot hide the principle that parties involved in a case cannot be judges or juries in that case.
If PCO and martial law are indeed so terrible then Iftikhar Chaudhry and his gang have no credibility to sit on the SC today, especially since they are now defenders of “democracy”.
Every country has the government it deserves, and Pakistanis got what they deserved
And so are the other 60+ judges who refused to take the oath and now restored as are the ones packed by Sultan Mushrraf for they were the beneficiaries.
Which means, all things have become equal, there exists a conflict of interest but by the action of the extreme, the same is eliminated.
Sultan Musharraf left no court untouched.
That said, it will be a long day before another PCO will be issued for an oath for judiciary.