ISLAMABAD, 22 March 2007 — The storm over the suspension of Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry still raged as the charges against Chaudhry were detailed for the first time since the crisis over his suspension began.
Thousands of protesters urged President Pervez Musharraf yesterday to quit over his removal of the chief justice, as the new acting chief justice flew back home and into the eye of the storm.
Chaudhry was suspended after strong-arming a series of promotions for his son, according to charges filed by Musharraf and published for the first time yesterday. The March 9 suspension of Chaudhry has triggered one of the biggest crises of Musharraf’s rule, with thousands of demonstrators again protesting yesterday in Lahore and Islamabad.
As well as pushing his son into well-placed jobs, Chaudhry also assembled a fleet of cars and demanded the use of planes that he was not entitled to, the misconduct allegations said. “The reference by the president published in the media was leaked by Chaudhry’s lawyer. But it is true,” a senior Law Ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Chaudhry’s chief lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan denied the “baseless” accusations against the suspended chief justice and said he and his team had not leaked the document. “Why would we leak the charge-sheet?” Ahsan said.
The list of allegations says Chaudhry “committed misconduct by employing his position to gain undue advantage for Dr. Arsalan Iftikhar,” his son. “He unlawfully used his position as a judge and chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to influence, harass and intimidate all concerned and compelled them to act in an unlawful manner,” it adds.
The charges also claim Chaudhry has the use of seven official cars when he is only meant to have one; that he orders traffic to be stopped for his convoy; and that he demands use of aircraft assigned to senior government officials.
The misconduct allegations were handed in to Pakistan’s Supreme Judicial Council. The suspended chief justice had been due to appear yesterday before the body for the third closed-door hearing into the charges, but the hearing was postponed at the last minute until April 3.
It was delayed to allow Justice Rana Bhagwandas, Pakistan’s most senior judge after Chaudhry, to return from holiday in India and replace the current acting chief justice, Javed Iqbal.
— With input from agencies
