ISLAMABAD, 8 May 2007 — A Pakistan Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Javed Buttar yesterday suspended proceedings of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) which is hearing a presidential reference against suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
The judicial inquiry into misconduct charges against the country’s top judge has triggered weeks of nationwide protests. The court ordered the suspension as it took up a petition from Chief Justice Chaudhry challenging his sacking, a decision likely to embarrass President Pervez Musharraf’s government.
Musharraf suspended Chaudhry on March 9 on allegations of misconduct and abuse of authority, sparking a wave of massive protests by opposition parties and lawyers who branded it an attack on the independence of the judiciary. The controversy has blown up into the most serious challenge to Musharraf’s authority.
Meanwhile, the government raised the possibility of declaring a state of emergency over the judicial crisis.
Pakistan’s main stock index lost 3.46 percent yesterday largely in response, dealers said, to comments from Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that the government retained the option of imposing a state of emergency.
At a hurriedly called press conference Aziz said, “There is provision in the Constitution to clamp a state of emergency in the country to control law and order situation.”
The misconduct allegations against Chaudhry were being investigated by the SJC, a panel of five senior judges, but Chaudhry argued that it was not competent to try him.
“The SJC proceedings have been stayed,” Tariq Mahmoud, a lawyer for Chaudhry, said after the hearing. Mahmoud said the Supreme Court had demanded that Chaudhry’s case should be heard by a full court comprising all of its judges.
