ISLAMABAD, 3 May 2007 — Hundreds of opposition activists and lawyers protested outside the Supreme Court yesterday as a judicial panel rejected a request by suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to stop a hearing into charges against him.
The judicial council held its seventh closed-door session into the accusations against Chaudhry yesterday and is to meet again today.
The panel of five judges turned down a request to suspend proceedings until the Supreme Court ruled on a petition challenging the panel’s competency.
Chaudhry had earlier petitioned the court claiming that three panel members were biased against him.
Chaudhry’s lead lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan requested the panel to refrain from further proceedings till the decision on his petition by the Supreme Court.
The SJC observed that, “On April 18, a similar request was made by the CJ but the prayer was rejected and the counsel was asked to conclude arguments on all preliminary legal objections.” The panel observed, “There is no good ground and lawful justification to stay the proceedings till the decision of the constitutional petition. The prayer is therefore declined.”
In another development, a counsel for the referring authority (president), prime minister and other respondents filed an application in the Supreme Court requesting that a full top court bench comprising twelve judges should hear constitutional petitions of the suspended chief justice and others challenging the validity of the presidential reference and competence of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to hear the case.
The SJC reserved its ruling on Chaudhry’s petition that the trial be held in public. It also reserved its ruling on two other petitions, one relating to the hearing of the case by a full Supreme Court bench and the other over the composition of the judicial council.
President Pervez Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Chaudhry on March 9 and ordered a panel of judges to hold an inquiry into misconduct charges against him.
The move against Chaudhry has outraged the legal community, who see it as an attack on the independence of the judiciary. About 1,000 flag-waving activists, including supporters of religious and liberal parties, were joined by lawyers for a rally outside the Supreme Court where they chanted “Go Musharraf, go.”
A brief clash erupted when police used batons to stop several opposition activists climbing over a barricade to join the protest. There were no reports of injuries and the rally was generally good-natured with protesters beating traditional drums and dancing under a scorching sun.
A prominent human rights activist at the rally said the move against Chaudhry was a wake-up call for the Pakistani people who had to defend their judicial system.
“We want the rule of law, supremacy of the constitution and restoration of basic human rights,” said Asma Jahangir, a lawyer and chairwoman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Besides lawyers and political workers, poets and writers also joined the protest yesterday. Eminent poet Ahmad Faraz led a rally of poets and writers in Islamabad.
Activists from the Muttaheda Majlis-e-Amal, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Pakistan People’s Party, Awami National Party, Sindh Awami Tehrik, Tehrik-e-Insaf, Balochistan National Party and other organizations attended the rally.
Analysts have speculated that the move to sack the independent-minded Chaudhry might have been motivated by fears he would not allow Musharraf to duck a commitment to quit as army chief this year.
Meanwhile, a new row has cropped up between the government of Punjab and the suspended chief justice. Chaudhry is scheduled to address the Lahore High Court Bar Association and he wants to travel to Lahore by road but the Punjab government insists he should travel by air because of security reasons.
In another development, President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at a meeting in Rawalpindi yesterday discussed the judicial crisis and decided to accept the verdict of the SJC.
Nilofar Removed From PML Post
Federal Minister for Tourism Nilofar Bakhtiar whose pictures appeared in newspapers hugging her paragliding French instructor in Paris last month, was removed from one of the top positions of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League by party President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain yesterday. She was head of PML (Q) women’s wing. Shujaat appointed Sumaira Malik, federal minister for women’s affairs, to the post.
