Unprecedented in legal annals..the ICJ must have been paid by corrupt opposition leaders to spread this disinformation…:clown:
Pakistan rapped over judge crisis
By M Ilyas Khan
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has strongly criticised the suspension of Pakistan’s top judge by the country’s military ruler.
**It said the 9 March move by President Musharraf was “virtually unprecedented in the legal annals of the world”. **
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was ordered to appear before a hurriedly constituted court of inquiry.
He denies allegations he abused his position. His suspension has prompted lawyers to protest across Pakistan.
Pakistan’s law minister Wasi Zafar disputed the ICJ findings, saying its research was “incomplete”.
‘Executive interference’
Opposition parties, civil rights activists and Islamic groups have all joined in the protests in recent weeks.
**It would appear that the executive reacted increasingly to the judicial activism of the chief justice **
International Commission of Jurists
The ICJ warned that if the crisis went on it may cause “irreversible damage to constitutional order” in the country.
Its representative, Dato Param Cumaraswamy, has been on a seven-day mission to Pakistan where he held meetings with lawyers, judges, ministers and officials, including the dismissed chief justice.
He shared his preliminary findings with the media in Islamabad on Thursday. The ICJ will issue a detailed report on the crisis later.
According to a written statement, the ICJ mission found well-documented instances of executive interference in the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan.
But the ICJ said the events of 9 March, when President Musharraf “in his army uniform, met the chief justice and sought his resignation, who then refused to resign, was virtually unprecedented in the legal annals of the world”.
There have been repeated protests to get the judge reinstated
The statement says the chief justice was “held in Army House for nearly five hours, virtually incommunicado”.
“With undue haste, the next senior most judge, Justice Javed Iqbal, was sworn in as acting chief justice,” it says.
Acting again with “undue haste”, the Supreme Judicial Council was convened on the same evening, the ICJ says.
‘Pulled his hair’
When the chief justice left Army House, the statement said, his entire protocol was withdrawn, including the flag on his car, and he was prevented from going to the Supreme Court.
People interested in politicising this case must have misguided the ICJ
Law minister Wasim Zafar
**Meanwhile, the ICJ said that 18 intelligence agents were reportedly deployed inside his house, his housekeepers were sent home, his phone and cable lines were disconnected and his cars were towed away.
The statement criticises what it says was the manhandling of the chief justice by police who “reportedly tore his coat, shoved his wife aside, pulled his hair and tried to force him into a police car”. **
The mission’s statement referred to the privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills which was blocked by the chief justice, and his ruling that intelligence agencies explain “enforced disappearances” of political activists.
“It would appear that the executive reacted increasingly to the judicial activism of the chief justice,” it said.
**The ICJ also referred to official pressure on the media, “some subtle, such as the reduction of government advertisements, and some overt, such as letters and phone calls telling them to report in a particular manner”. **
Protesting lawyers have met with heavy security
It called upon the government to address the underlying causes of the crisis and to restore a fundamental democratic principle “that is pivotal for the rule of law in Pakistan and the independence of the judiciary”.
Asked for his reaction to the ICJ’s findings, Pakistan’s Law Minister Wasi Zafar told the BBC he thought there was “some kind of misunderstanding or their research is incomplete”.
“Had they gone into it in depth, they would probably have a different opinion.”
Mr Zafar said the ICJ had consulted the government, but suggested the opposition and the chief justice’s lawyers had misled the ICJ.
“People interested in politicising this case must have misguided the ICJ.”
He said it was “not true” that the chief justice had been held under arrest, or that his meeting with the president had taken place in Army House, saying it had been in a different building.
