Pakistan Boils Over Chief Justice Ouster

Many believe Justice Chaudry is being punished for refusing to toe the official line. (IOL photo)

"We do not accept the autocratic and unconstitutional judgment of General (Pervez) Musharaff," Munir A. Malik, President of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), told IslamOnline.net.

"He is acting like a monarch."

General Musharraf had dismissed Chief Justice Chaudry and appointed Justice Javed Iqbal as acting Chief Justice.

The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) is going to try the ousted chief justice on the charges of misconduct and misuse of authority.

The government claims that Chaudry has been made "non-functional" till the judgment of the SJC.

He has been placed under undeclared house arrest, and his passport as well as that of his family members have been seized by authorities, Chaudry's relative told IOL.

"Justice Iftikhar Chaudry is still the chief justice of the Supreme Court. We do not accept any acting chief justice," Malik said.

He asserted that lawyers would boycott the proceedings of the SJC.

The lawyers' associations have announced a three-day strike throughout the country against dismissal of the chief justice.

"This is a callous conspiracy of the highest order against superior judiciary," insisted Malik.

Punished  

Angry lawyers burn Musharraf's portrait during a demonstration.

"This is not the issue of misconduct or corruption," Malik asserted.

"General Musharraf has taken this step because Justice Chaudry had refused to bow to his dictatorship, and took suo-moto notices against government's wrong doings, especially in case of missing people," he added.

Yaseen Azad, a senior lawyer, said the ouster was a message to other judges that if they did not act in line with the wishes of the rulers, they would have to face the same consequences.

He insisted that the formation of SJC was unconstitutional, and the lawyers' community didn't accept that.

"Lawyers are trying to save the country, and our movement will continue till the ouster of military regime," Azad vowed defiantly.

Political and legal observers believe the dismissal of the chief justice has nothing to do with corruption or misconduct charges.

"The corrupt and weak judges always suit the military rulers. If Justice Chaudry had been a corrupt judge, he would have been the favorite of military rulers," cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan told reporters.

Justice Chaudry has several important judgments to his credit.

The most significant judgments, which contested the government's claims regarding transparency and human rights, were the privatization of the Pakistan Steel Mills and the case of "missing" persons.

In Steel Mills privatization case last year, Justice Chaudry had held that the entire transaction was the "outcome of a process reflecting serious violation of law and gross irregularities" in which various aspects of profitability and assets of the state-owned enterprise were totally ignored.

The day before his removal, the chief justice had heard the case of "forced disappearances" and he had expressed strong disappointment over the government's failure to locate the whereabouts of people who vanished because of their suspected links with Al-Qaeda or other militant organizations.

During his 21-month tenure as chief justice, Justice Chaudry initiated scores of suo- motu actions, many against government officials, especially the police and the bureaucracy.

"The country's military and civil bureaucracy was not happy with the chief justice as he challenged its power for the first time in the history of Pakistan," Khan said.

"He was actively pursuing the case of missing people, and forced the government to locate them. The intelligence agencies were even not happy with him."

Trying Musharraf

Many believe that Musharraf was be the one tried for what he has done to the Asian Muslim country.

"If judges are not angels, then army generals are not angels too. If judges can be tried for misconduct and corruption, then General Musharraf and his company should be tried first because they have violated the constitution by dismissing an elected government," said Malik.

Musharraf assumed power after a military coup in which the government of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted on October 12, 1999.

Azad, a senior lawyer, said he was in favor of judges' accountability, but the way, the chief justice had been treated was totally "wrong" and "dubious".

"The time has come when the army must take a decision whether it will trample upon the sanctity of the nation and the constitution or court martial General Musharraf who has continuously been violating the constitution," he told IOL.

"General Musharraf in real terms has enforced martial law in the country by dismissing the chief justice," he added.

Defiant  

Chaudry's relatives say the government is pressing him to resign voluntarily

The government defended the move, terming the lawyers' movement "unconstitutional" and "politically-motivated".

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that action against Justice Chaudry had been taken in accordance with the law and the constitution.

He said the issue is now up to the Supreme Judicial Council in light of provision 209 of the Constitution.

"Every violator of the law of the land in any other field will face the same treatment," Aziz told reporters.

Federal Minister for Information Muhammad Ali Durrani warned the lawyers not to become part of the opposition.

"They should not act like political workers. This is purely a constitutional issue, and they should wait for the SJC's judgment," he told IOL.

Durrani warned that if lawyers tried to take the law in their hands, they would be treated accordingly.

"The government is not afraid of any protest movement. Lawyers are trying to convert a constitutional matter into a political issue," he maintained.

Pressurized

A relative of dismissed chief justice claim that he was being pressurized by the government to resign, otherwise he would have to face the SJC.

"The government is putting pressure on him to resign from his post," Aamir Rana, a nephew of Justice Chaudhry, told IOL.

"Authorities concerned are demanding resignation from my uncle. They are also harassing us, and some people in plain cloths raided my house to arrest me, but I wasn't there," he said.

Rana said the movement of the chief justice had been restricted to his official residence in Islamabad.

"No close relatives are allowed to meet him," he said, adding that all telephones of the official residence had been disconnected.

Rana said Musharraf asked Justice Chaudry not to pass remarks against the government during the hearing of different cases.

According to him, Justice Chaudry was facing a lot of pressure from the government to dismiss cases of missing persons.

Government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IOL that some serving supreme court judges and two senior federal ministers were trying to persuade the chief justice to resign voluntarily to save the country from the imminent constitutional crisis.

Pakistan's veteran politician Asghar Khan, the first non-government person to meet the chief justice since Friday, told IOL that Chaudry was not ready to resign, and was determined to face the allegations leveled against him.

"He told me that he wants an open trial on the allegations against him so that the people of Pakistan know what is reality," he said.

According to Khan, Chaudry rejected the allegations against him and said he had done nothing wrong.

Chaudry told him he had been held incommunicado and was not allowed to see his lawyers.

"His all telephones and TV cable have been disconnected. Even, he is not being provided with newspapers."