Islamabad, May 7
In a new twist and a victory for suspended Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry, the country’s apex court on Monday stayed proceedings against him before the Supreme Judicial Council and directed that the case should be heard by the full court.
The decision by the five-judge bench of the court came a day after Justice Chaudhry concluded a mammoth rally in Lahore where he said the days of dictatorship are over.
In a decision that also partially met the government’s demand, a five-judge bench of the court headed by Javed Butter hearing Chaudhry’s petition challenging the reference of allegations of misconduct and misuse of power against him, stayed the proceedings of the five-judge SJC headed by Acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had referred the allegations of misconduct and misuse of power against Chaudhry in March after suspending him. Chaudhry’s lawyer Aitejaz Ahsan regarded the Supreme Court’s decision as an important victory as the suspended Chief Justice from the beginning has raised a host of objections against SJC’s competence to conduct a trial.
His first objection was whether ACJ Das was entitled to head the SJC, even though Chaudhry said he held Das, the first Hindu judge in highest esteem. He averred that technically ACJ cannot head the SJC.
Secondly, he objected to the presence of three judges whom, he said, nurtured a bias against him. Two Supreme Court judges, Justice Javed Iqbal and Hamid Dogar and Chief Justice of Lahore HC, Iftikar Chaudhry, who were part of the five-judge SJC were against him and therefore should not be part of it, he
contended. — PTI
