Guest post by Karachi
As the sun rose in my Karachi yesterday, so the curtain was raised on the day of much anticipated, expertly choreographed blood shed many had predicted. That it was all so properly scripted made it all the more shocking, then disgusting, and then of course dreadfully sad.
Meenah, a reader, cries out to all Pakistanis to stand up for justice. She quotes Faiz’s poetry to reflect upon the current dismal state of affairs and to point towards an eventual solution. She urges us to stand up for our rights and for justice. Ghafoor’s rejoinder to a question posed by Meenah is posted below. He looks at, ‘When will we finally wake up?’
Justice, anyone?
Justice is said to be blind. Unfortunately, when we’re talking about Pakistan, it also happens to be deaf, dumb, and slightly retarded.
Perhaps that is why, over the decades, we ourselves have become our worst enemy. A long time back, Faiz Ahmed Faiz penned a beautiful piece of poetry: “Hum dekhein ge” {We will watch}. He talked about Indian occupied Kashmir and how he hoped we would watch it liberated one day. On Friday, the 16th of March 2007, this rallying cry rang out over the radio, as our press was attacked by our very own “saviors”, the Punjab Police.
Sab Taj uch’halay jaein ge, sab takht giraey jaein ge,
Hum dekhein ge…{All kings will be dethroned, all rulers ousted; We will watch…}
Haven’t we remained silent long enough? Continue reading ‘Justice, anyone?…and a rejoinder’
(Someone had requested this yesteday. Most of you would have already had a look at this, but I am putting it up for those who haven’t.)
BEFORE THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COUNCIL, PAKISTAN
ISLAMABAD
Reference by the President, Islamic Republic of Pakistan under Article 209 of the Constitution
Respectfully sheweth:
The facts and circumstances necessitating this Reference by the president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (”Pakistan”) under Article 209 of the Constitution, briefly stated, are as under:
I. The Prime Minister of Pakistan on receipt of information, from several sources, with respect to the conduct of Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (hereinafter referred to as, “the learned judge”) was pleased to advise the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to “direct” the Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan, in exercise of its powers under Article 209 of the Constitution, to inquire into the matter and report to the President whether the learned judge has been guilty of misconduct and further, whether he should be removed from office?
II. The advice of the Prime Minister was, inter alia, based on the following:
Arsalan Iftikhar
Continue reading ‘Text of Reference Filed Against the Chief Justice of Pakistan’
(I received this by email today. It is a petition drafted by Advocate Athar Minallah. I first heard his name with regards to the email Chief Justice Chaudhry sent him. Seems like he’s an important member of the team representing the Chief Justice. I am not too sure why this is doing the rounds on email, but it may to educate the people about the case that is being put forward on the Chief Justice’s side. In a way it may be a tactic to turn a closed trial into a public one.)
BEFORE THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN
ATHAR MINALLAH
Advocate High Court
24, First Floor, Beverly Centre, Blue Area, Islamabad
YAHYA KHAN AFRIDI
Advocate Supreme Court
24, First Floor, Beverly Centre, Blue Area, Islamabad
Verses
Continue reading ‘Petition filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan by Athar Minallah’
WOW!!! Read this! Shameful! What is this government upto???? This is the first time we’ve heard from the Chief Justice and I’m certain this is not the last. As anticipated the first argument he has put forward is that the SJC members must be disqualified since he does not expect a fair inquiry. Please read it.
Non functional CJP Chaudhry Iftikhar Mohammad email’s to Ather Minallah Advocate
Before the Supreme Judicial Council
(Constituted against the provisions of article 209 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan).Reference: no: 43 of /209
(Application for obtaining copies of documents/evidence and raising objection on the
constitutionality of SJC).Above noted reference came up for hearing on march 9th,2007 after 6:00 pm in a indecent haste as it is evident from a news published in daily Naw-i-waqt dated March 10th, 2007 where it has been published that, chief justices, of Lahore and Karachi were brought to Islamabad in a special flight (copy of News item is appended as annex-A) The SJC on having gone through record passed on order detrimental against my interest and against the interest of institution whereby I have been restrained to work as Supreme Court judge and chief justice of Pakistan. Such powers are not available at all to a facts finding inquiry commission / council as such powers are available to courts and can be derived only from the constitutional provisions and the law.
Continue reading ‘Chief Justice Chaudhry’s first communication: An email to Advocate Ather Minallah’
Credit to *abro* for this picture, which was taken from flickr. It is titled Judiciary and Uniform and was put up a couple of months ago so has nothing to do with the most recent episode. How do you interpret it?
Dear Mr President,
I am a Pakistani student in London training to become a Barrister. Hence, this letter is written not as an officer of any court of Pakistan, not as a Pakistani tax payer and not as a stake-holder in the dispensation of justice. I write this not out of emotion or out of coercion; nor out of a desire to impress or out of an intention to resurrect a failed career. It is written by a citizen of Pakistan as an expression of his right to freedom of speech and his concern for the state of his country and its various institutions, including the judiciary; by a person who once believed in your leadership and your vision for your country; and by someone who stands aggrieved by your recent actions and lack of an explanation in that regard.
I must confess I do not possess either the eloquence or the inclination to write a letter of the same stature as Mr Naeem Bokhari’s, but I will make my grievances be heard. The lack of inclination is not an indication of my patriotism, but a reflection of inherent pessimism that any action would be taken on this humble student’s concerns.
Quite a detailed analysis of yesterday’s actions. Gives an insight into what happened, what prominent legal personalities feel about it and tries to unravel the real reasons behind the CJ’s dismissal. This and other articles on the issue can be found here.
By Dr Waqar Kazmi
Pakistan’s absolute ruler General Pervez Musharraf removed the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, on charges of “misconduct” on March 9 and named Justice Javed Iqbal as Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan.
Musharraf’s action is unprecedented even in Pakistan’s checkered judicial history. Officials claimed that Musharraf acted on the advice of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and filed a reference against the Chief Justice with the country’s highest judicial panel, the Supreme Judicial Council. The reference contains a litany of charges of misconduct, misdemeanor, abuse of powers and undignified behaviour based on an ‘open letter’ recently written and widely circulated by a pro-government lawyer and famous TV anchor, Naeem Bokhari.
Continue reading ‘General Musharraf Fires Supreme Court Chief Justice in Unprecedented Display of Absolute Power’
President Musharraf, head of the executive branch of the government in Pakistan, has dismissed Iftikhar Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Mr. Musharraf has summarily dismissed him without sharing any evidence against the outgoing Chief Justice with the country at large. I think the manner in which this step was taken was abominable and is indeed beyond reproach. Now: how can anyone have the necessary confidence in the judiciary of Pakistan when the highest officer of the judiciary is at the mercy of the government in power? Judiciary cannot operate if it is not independent and needs its independence to dispense justice in a proper, equitable and fair manner. It appears that Mr. Chaudhry was sacked not because of his misuse of power but for standing up and judging against the will of power. Continue reading ‘Chief Justice: Innocent Until Proven Guilty’
Some of our readers have already commented on this here. However, it would be premature to comment at this early stage as no details have been given.
The facts are that the President has suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and appointed Justice Javed Iqbal as acting chief justice. He has taken this action on the basis of “numerous complaints and serious allegations for misconduct, misuse of authority and actions prejudicial to the dignity of office of the chief justice of Pakistan,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported. Obviously, this was after the CJ was given an opportunity to give a satisfactory explanation to the President and the Prime Minister.
We had posted an open letter by Advocate Naeem Bokhari a few days ago which criticised his behaviour towards the Pakistan Bar Association. Was there any truth in it? Or was it part of a planned, staged and smoothly executed, albeit unpleasant, removal?
Continue reading ‘…and the jury is out on CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry!’
