ISLAMABAD, 3 April 2007 — Acting Supreme Court Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas yesterday issued notices to the government and police officials who mishandled suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
The court decided to try seven officials seen as responsible for manhandling Chaudhry when he refused to use an official car to attend the first hearing of his case on March 13. The top court had assigned a senior judge of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, to record evidence concerning the manhandling of Justice Chaudhry. A report of investigation submitted by Justice Khan held top government and police officials responsible for the incident.
According to witnesses, Deputy Superintendent of Police Jamil Hashmi, Station House Officer of Secretariat Police Station Rukhsar Mehdi and Assistant Sub-Inspector Siraj dragged and pushed Chaudhry into an official car which took him to the Supreme Court for hearing.
Those issued notices yesterday include Inspector General of Police Iftikhar Ahmad, Senior Superintendent of Police Zafar Iqbal, Deputy Superintendent of Police Jamil Hashmi, SHO Rukhsar Mehdi, Commissioner of Federal Capital Territory Khalid Pervez and Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali. These officials have been directed to appear before the top court tomorrow.
Meanwhile, police detained scores of opposition activists, including a senior Islamist yesterday, a day ahead of opposition protests against President Pervez Musharraf’s move to suspend Chaudhry.
The suspension of Chaudhry on March 9 outraged the legal community, which sees it as an attack on the independence of the judiciary.
Opposition parties have joined protesting lawyers in demanding Chaudhry’s reinstatement and plan more rallies today, when a panel of judges hearing accusations against Chaudhry holds its third closed session.
The uproar is seen as a major challenge to Musharraf, but the protests have not attracted huge crowds and analysts say the army chief who seized power in 1999 still has the support of the military and is expected to weather the storm.
Lawyers plan to boycott courts across the country today and hold protests, said Ali Ahmed Kurd, vice chairman of the executive council of the Pakistan Bar Council. “Tomorrow’s show will prove how committed and organized we are,” Khurd said yesterday. “We want the withdrawal of the reference and reinstatement of the chief justice,” he said, referring to the complaint filed against Chaudhry.
An opposition official said authorities had begun rounding up their activists in a bid to scuttle the protests. Police in the eastern city of Lahore said they detained 150 opposition workers as a “preventive measure.”
Among those detained was the leader of an alliance of conservative religious parties, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who had been confined to his home in the capital, his spokesman said.
“Despite these detentions and arrests, we will hold a protest. If the government tries to stop us, then the responsibility for any law and order problem will lie with the government,” said the spokesman, Shahid Shamsi.
A spokesman for the party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said their supporters would be joining the protests. Many activists had gone underground to avoid being picked up in advance, he said.
The government has not specified the accusations against Chaudhry but a newspaper has reported the main one was that he used his position to help his son get a public sector job.
Musharraf defended his actions, saying everything done had been in line with the constitution although he admitted some mistakes in the handling of the case such as not keeping the public better informed.
