Karachi, Jan 18: Pakistan's deposed Supreme Court
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has launched a
scathing attack on the government, saying legal proceedings
could be initiated against the Prime Minister if judges sacked
during the 2007 emergency are restored.
Chaudhry, who was sacked along with some 60 judges by
former President Pervez Musharraf, criticised the Pakistan
People's Party-led government for doing little to reinstate
the deposed judiciary and to roll back measures introduced
during the emergency.
Once the deposed judges are restored, legal
proceedings could be launched against the Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani for not taking action against those who had
illegally sacked members of the judiciary in November 2007, he
told a rally organised by lawyers in this southern port city
early this morning.
"Does the Prime Minister have no executive authority?"
Chaudhry asked as hundreds of lawyers and supporters cheered.
His remarks came ahead of a campaign to be launched by the
lawyers' movement in March to press for the restoration of the
deposed judges.
The government has re-appointed some of the sacked
judges but has given no indication that it will restore
Chaudhry, who is viewed by PPP leaders as being too
independent.
Reports have suggested that the government is
apprehensive that if Chaudhry is reinstated, he could scrap
the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a controversial law
passed by Musharraf to drop graft charges against President
Asif Ali Zardari and his slain wife, former PPP chairperson
Benazir Bhutto.
Chaudhry said the people are being denied justice as
those who violated the law and the constitution still enjoyed
unlimited and unchecked powers. The National Assembly did not
need to pass a constitutional amendment to revoke the measures
introduced during the 2007 emergency, he said.
A resolution is adequate for this purpose and the
rulers needed to demonstrate they have the will power to pass
such a resolution, he said. An independent judiciary is
essential for Pakistan's stability and the lawyers' movement
will succeed with the cooperation of the civil society, he
added.
Despite Chaudhry's assertion, the once-powerful
lawyers' movement has been sidelined by the PPP, which has
aggressively wooed regional bodies of lawyers. In view of the
waning support for it, the movement is now trying to get the
support of the opposition PML-N for its proposed campaign in
March.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, January 18, 2009, 00:00