Gilani restores CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry, sacked judges : March triumphs, Justice gets justice

PM says Chaudhry to be reinstated as chief justice of Pakistan after Justice Dogar’s retirement on 21st
* Lifts Section 144, orders release of all political workers
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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani early on Monday announced the reinstatement of all sacked judges, including Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, after the retirement of Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar on March 21.

In a brief address to the nation at 5:50am, the prime minister said he, in consultation with President Asif Zardari, had decided the time had come to fulfil “the promises”. “I announce that all judges including Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will be reinstated on March 21,” he said, adding that a notification to this effect would be issued today. The prime minister said it was not possible to reinstate Chaudhry while Dogar was still in office as chief justice. He recalled that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had also struggled for the reinstatement of the sacked judges, and that the Pakistan People’s Party and the government also wanted the restoration. Gilani did not mention how the sacked judges would be reinstated, or whether the number of judges would be increased.

The prime minister also announced that the government would file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the decision of a three-member bench to disqualify Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif. However, the prime minister did not mention any timeline for the removal of governor’s rule in the Punjab. Gilani invited all political parties to work together for the implementation of the CoD. However, he did not refer to the repeal of the 17th Amendment. Gilani ordered the provincial governments to immediately lift Section 144 and to release all political workers arrested in connection with the long march. The announcements came following a marathon session between President Asif Ali Zardari, Gilani and General Ashfaq Kayani. zulfiqar ghuman and irfan ghauri

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Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (Urdu: افتخار محمد چودھری)

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (Urdu: افتخار محمد چودھری) (born 12 December 1948 in Faislabad) was the 20th Chief Justice of Pakistan. His supporters insist that he is still the de jure Chief Justice. He was appointed as Chief Justice by Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on May 7, 2005. He was "suspended" by President General Musharraf on March 9, 2007, when he refused to oblige Musharraf by refusing to resign but was reinstated by an order of the Supreme Court on July 20, 2007. This was the first recorded case of such suspension in the history of Pakistan.

After having been elected as President for second term by the elected Parliament, Musharraf in November 2007 pre-empted an impending court decision against his re-election and suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency.Justice Chaudhry reacted promptly, convening a seven-member bench which issued an already prepared interim order against this action.

Suspension and reinstatement

Two secret agents try to force the chief justice to sit in the car. One agent grasps the Chief Justice by the hair.Main article: Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (suspension)
On March 9, 2007, Chaudhry was suspended by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf also filed a Presidential reference against Chaudhry for misconduct.

The suspension of Chaudhry was the first time in the 50-year history of the Pakistani Supreme Court that a Chief Justice was suspended. The court under Chief Justice Chaudhry had made rulings against governmental corruption, including the Pakistan Steel Mills case. The court had started taking suo moto notice in all walks of governance starting from prices of vegetables, song's lyrics to traffic congestion and made the executive totally ineffective.

After the event, there was unrest in the country with regard to the validity of the allegations against Chaudhry, as well as doubt as to whether Musharraf actually had the power to suspend the Chief Justice under the circumstances.[7]

On May 5, 2007, Chaudhry with his brother in law and best supporter Ahtazaz Ahmed who is also the party member of PPP traveled from Islamabad to Lahore to address the Lahore High Court Bar Association. Demonstrations of support along the route slowed his motorcade to the point that it took him 25 hours to reach the dinner the Association was holding in his honor.[8] This journey usually takes 4-5 hours on average.[citation needed] Demonstrators chanted not only slogans supporting Chaudrhy, but also openly called for Musharraf to step down. In his speech he criticized dictatorship and emphasized on the important of the rule of law.[9]


Public supporting Chief Justice in capital city of Islamabad.On July 20, 2007, Chaudhry was reinstated to his position as Chief Justice in a ruling by the thirteen-member bench of Pakistani Supreme Court which also cleared him of the misconduct reference filed against him by Musharraf without even considering or investigating the allegations leveled against the Chief Justice. The ruling combined 25 constitutional petitions filed by Chaudhry and other interested parties, but referred most of the issues raised by the 24 petitions not filed by Chaudhry himself to lower courts for extended adjudication. All thirteen of the sitting justices agreed that Musharraf's action had been illegal, and ten of the thirteen ordered Chaudhry was to be reinstated and that he "shall be deemed to be holding the said office and shall always be deemed to have been so holding the same." It is also important to note that the lawyers of Musharraf tendered an unconditional apology for submitting frivilous documents in support of the alleged charges and the Federal Government was fined Rs. 100,000.

Arrest

After the imposition of emergency and suspension of constitution, Chaudhry constituted an eight-member bench of Supreme Court judges duly headed by himself, and immediately quashed the provisional constitution order, declaration of emergency and the suspension of the constitution, and ordered all civil and military personnel to ignore the order. He also ordered all the chief justices of high courts and judges of the Supreme Court and High Court not to take oath under the PCO. Soon after, on November 3, the Supreme Court was stormed by the 111th brigade of the Pakistan Army and Chaudhry was arrested along with seven other judges. Musharraf replaced Justice Chaudhry with Abdul Hameed Dogar as the de facto chief justice of Pakistan and also administered the oath of office to three other judges of the supreme court under the PCO. Justice Dogar later took a fresh oath on the constitution after it was restored and the PCO withdrawn.

Chaudhry's house was sealed and he was allowed limited visitors and no one met him officially until the new Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani ordered to uplift the house arrest on his first day of premiership. However, he continued to denounce Musharraf's declaration of emergency and vowed to push for a return to the rule of law.
On 15 November Geo News reported that Chaudhry had ordered the Islamabad Inspector General of Police to take action against his and his family’s house arrest and their possible removal to Quetta. According to the channel, Chaudhry held the interior secretary, the commissioner, the deputy commissioner and the assistant commissioner responsible for his house arrest. He said he was still the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the official residence was his by right.

On 18 November in a letter to prominent English-language newspaper The News he wrote: "I will fight till the last drop of my blood to save the Constitution of Pakistan and so will resist any move to deport me to some far-flung area with the intention to separate me from the lawyers and the Pakistani citizens".

In February 2008, Chaudhry wrote an open letter to President Musharraf from house arrest.