ISLAMABAD, 12 June 2007 — Pakistan’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry got a boost yesterday as the Supreme Court allowed him to contest his suspension by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Analysts see this as a big setback for the government in a case that has fueled opposition to the military rule in the country. Musharraf suspended Chaudhry on March 9 for alleged misconduct, a move that critics condemn as a bid to tame the judiciary ahead of elections.
But Chaudhry has decided to fight the allegations, triggering growing protests by lawyers and opposition parties and instigating a legal struggle whose outcome could decide Musharraf’s ability to stay in power.
Chaudhry complained to the Supreme Court that his ouster was unconstitutional, and the court yesterday snubbed government pleas to dismiss his petition, opening the way for a detailed examination of the government’s actions.
Presiding Judge Khalilur Rahman Ramday said the court would hear “the merits” of Chaudhry’s complaints before deciding whether it was admissible. Lawyers for Chaudhry slapped each other on the back in court.
Asked later if he was happy with the decision, Aitzaz Ahsan, the lead counsel for Chaudhry, said: “Yes, absolutely.” A government attorney, Ahmed Raza Qasuri, insisted he was not disappointed. “Nothing has been said against the government. There is nothing adverse,” Qasuri said.
However, government lawyers had been urging the 13-member bench to throw out the petition and allow a separate judicial complaints tribunal to continue its inquiry into Chaudhry’s alleged abuse of office.
Rasul Baksh Rais, a professor of political sciences at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, said yesterday’s ruling looked like a “victory” for Chaudhry. He also said it was important for the independence of the judiciary that it “takes a decision on a case which the government doesn’t want the Supreme Court to take a decision (on).” At issue before the Supreme Court is the meeting between Musharraf and Chaudhry at the president’s army office on March 9.
Two intelligence agency bosses and Musharraf’s chief of staff filed affidavits in the court last week rejecting claims by Chaudhry that he was held in Musharraf’s office against his will and pressured to resign.
The officials also accused Chaudhry of asking them for intelligence on fellow judges, of abusing his authority to purchase land in Karachi and claiming gasoline expenses using forged receipts. Chaudhry’s lawyer, Ahsan, has rejected those statements as “fabrications and fairy tales” and insisted in court yesterday that the president had acted in bad faith.
— With input from agencies
