ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari yesterday signed orders to reinstate Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and 10 other sacked judges, said presidential spokesman Farahatullah Babar.
He said Chaudhry will assume office as chief justice of Supreme Court on March 22, following the retirement of the current top judge. The president has signed a notification forwarded to him by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, he added.
Ten more dismissed judges are also reinstated with immediate effect, he was quoted as saying by the Dawn news channel.
Chaudhry, along with more than 60 others, was fired in November 2007 by then-President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
Most of the judges rejoined the judicial set-up in the following months after taking an oath under a controversial order by Musharraf, but Chaudhry and 10 others rejected a fresh swearing-in because they believed their dismissal was illegal.
Though a formal notification is not issued, it is generally believed that Chaudhry and other judges will not take fresh oath of office. “There are several legal and constitutional complications if the pre-Nov. 3, 2007, situation is restored. That would render Gen. Musharraf’s reelection in uniform unlawful. This in turn would affect his orders including general elections of Feb. 18,” said former law minister Iqbal Hyder.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has said that the federal government was against the governor rule in Punjab and, therefore, lift it as soon as possible. He made the statement at a ceremony in a private school here.
Gilani said the government intended to take all political parties onboard in its effort for national reconciliation.
