justice Ifthikhar Choudry

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (born 12 December 1948), is the de jure Chief Justice of Pakistan. He was appointed Chief Justice by Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on May 7, 2005.[1] He was suspended by President General Musharraf on March 9, 2007, but was reinstated by order of the Supreme Court on July 20, 2007.[2]
On November 3, 2007, Chief of the Army Staff General Musharraf suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency.[3] Justice Iftikhar reacted promptly, convening a eight-member bench which issued at interim order against this action.[4] He also ordered the armed forces of Pakistan not to obey any illegal orders.
Subsequently, 111th brigade of the Pakistan army entered the supreme court building and removed Chaudhry and several other honourable judges from the supreme court.[5] He has continued to denounce Musharraf's declaration of emergency and vowed to push for a return to the rule of law.[6] . Masses,civil society and political parties have rallied around him once again since then[1].
In his letter to a prominent english 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"[2].
Contents[hide]
1 Career in Law
2 Important rulings
2.1 Pakistan Steel Mills Privatization
2.2 Hasba Bill case
2.3 Missing people
2.4 Cases for 2007
3 Suspension and reinstatement
4 Cases post-reinstatement
5 2007 State of Emergency
6 HLS Medal of Freedom
7 References
8 See also
9 External links
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[edit] Career in Law
Chaudhry Iftikhar has a Bachelors in Arts and Bachelors in Law (LLB). He joined the bar in 1974. Later, he was enrolled as Advocate of the High Court in 1976 and as an Advocate of the Supreme Court in 1985. In 1989 he was appointed as Advocate General, Balochistan, and later got elevated as Additional Judge, Balochistan High Court in 6 November 1990 until 21 April 1999.[7]
Besides remaining as Judge High Court, he discharged duties as Banking Judge, Judge Special Court for Speedy Trials, Judge Customs Appellate Courts as well as Company Judge. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also remained President of High Court Bar Association, Quetta, and was elected twice as Member, Bar Council. Later, he was appointed as Chairman, Balochistan Local Council Election Authority in 1992 and thereafter for second term in 1998. He also worked as Chairman, Provincial Review Board for the province of Balochistan. He was twice appointed as Chairman, Pakistan Red Crescent Society, Balochistan.
At present, Justice Iftikhar is also functioning as Chairman, Enrollment Committee of Pakistan Bar Council and as Chairman, Supreme Court Building Committee. He was appointed as Chief Justice High Court of Balochistan on 22 April 1999.[7]
In January 2000 Chief Executive General Musharraf dictated that all superior court judges swear a new oath under the PCO No.1 issued on October 15, 1999, which had suspended the Constitution of Pakistan. After swearing an oath on the PCO Justice Iftikhar was elevated to the Supreme Court on 4 February 2000. He was appointed as Chief Justice of Pakistan on 7 May 2005 by President General Pervez Musharraf.[8] Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is the senior-most judge among the sitting judges of the Court after the outgoing Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry assumed the office of Chief Justice on 30 June 2005.[7]

[edit] Important rulings

[edit] Pakistan Steel Mills Privatization
Main article: Pakistan Steel Mills
In 2007, the Supreme court ruled against the government, saying that the selling of Pakistan Steel Mills to a group including Arif Habib, former client and friend of PM Shaukat Aziz, was done in "indecent haste".

President Pervez Musharraf administers the oath of the office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in 2005.

[edit] Hasba Bill case
Main article: Hasba bill
The Hasba bill also proposed powers for the police to ensure observance of Islamic practices and values while curbing palm reading and other superstitious customs deemed un-Islamic by the legislators.
General Pervez Musharraf petitioned the top court for an opinion after the Hasba bill was passed through North West Frontier Province's assembly.
"The governor of the province of NWFP may not assent to the Hasba bill in its present form," Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, head of a panel of nine judges, told the court before listing several clauses in the bill deemed unconstitutional.

[edit] Missing people
Many people in Pakistan had "disappeared." allegedly kidnapped by the American agencies (FBI, CIA) and Pakistani agencies (ISI, MI, IB) in pursuance of the "War on Terror." These actions were challenged in the Supreme Court and a bench under the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had directed the Ministry of Interior and the representatives of the military agencies to appear in the court and answer the issues raised.
The case is being heard by Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim and Asma Jahangir from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.[citation needed]

[edit] Cases for 2007
It is thought that some very important cases were to be heard in the supreme court in the coming months. Decisions have already been taken in some:
The case whether Nawaz Sharif (twice the former PM of Pakistan) can come back to Pakistan. Government had always said that he can but now does not want him to come back. — Decision: Sharif can come back.[9]
Upcoming cases include:
The case inquiring the dual nationality of the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his eligibility to be Prime Minister.
The case on whether or not the President Pervez Musharraf could run the election for the next Presidency term.
The Uniform Issue of President Pervez Musharraf, i.e. whether the President may continue in office without relinquishing his role as the head of the military.
Inquest into the validity of the decrees issued by madrassas.

[edit] 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 09, 2007, Chaudhry was suspended by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf also filed a "reference" (i.e., legal case) against Chaudhry for alleged misconduct, such as an allegation that Chaudhry demanded an ostentatious Mercedes-Benz for his official car. [10]
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.
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.[11]
On May 5, 2007, Chaudhry 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.[12] 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.[12]

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 Pakistani Supreme Court which also quashed the misconduct reference filed against him by Musharraf.[10] 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." [13]

[edit] Cases post-reinstatement
On August 20, 2007 Ifikhar Mohammad threatened Tariq Pervez (the director-general of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency) with jail if he did not produce ghost detainee Hafiz Abdul Basit.[14] Chief Justice Chaudhry ordered "He must be produced today or you will be sent to the lock-up."[14]

[edit] 2007 State of Emergency
Main article: 2007 Pakistani state of emergency
General Pervez Musharraf, who holds the office of the President and Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, on Saturday Nov 3rd 2007 declared a state of emergency and suspended the nation's constitution and parliament at the same time.[15]. According to the the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan the President of Pakistan can impose a state of emergency in the country, if he believe that circumstances exist that warrant it and has to get it validated from a sitting Parliament within 30 days[16]. However the proclamation of state of emergency was announced, according to the proclamation, by him as the chief of army staff and not the President of Pakistan and as per legal scholars this is tantamount to martial law, as there is no provision present in the Constitution of Pakistan for an Army General to declare a state of emergency.
Further according to the constitution the state of emergency only suspends certain fundamental rights of citizens and all other structures and functions of the state remain functioning as normal under the constitution, but through this proclamation the government has suspended the constitution itself and issued a provisional constitution order (PCO) in its place, this action is not allowed by any provision of the constitution and is thus tantamount to martial law.
After the imposition of emergency and suspension of constitution, Chaudhry constituted an 8 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 supreme court and high court not to take oath under the PCO. Soon after, the supreme court was stormed by the 111th brigade of the Pakistan Army and chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudary along with seven other judges of the of the Pakistan supreme court were removed from office and kept under house arrest. Musharraf replaced Justice Iftikhar Chaudry 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.

[edit] HLS Medal of Freedom
“
As lawyers who value freedom and the rule of law, we at Harvard Law School want Chief Justice Chaudhry and all of the courageous lawyers in Pakistan to know that we stand with them in solidarity. We are proud to be their colleagues in the cause of justice, and we will do all we can to press for the prompt restoration of constitutionalism and legality in Pakistan.
”
— Elena Kagan, Harvard Law School's Dean, on the Justice Iftikhar's awarding.[17]
In the wake of the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan, on November 14, 2007, the Harvard Law School Association[18] decided to award its highest honour, the Medal of Freedom to Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, following the military crackdown the previous week. He becomes the first Pakistani to be presented with such honour.
Harvard Law School Medal of Freedom is given to selected personalities for their contributions to freedom, justice, and equality. Former South African President Nelson Mandela is one of the previous recipients of this award.
Though Iftikhar Chaudhry is currently under house-arrest, the school plans to hold a grand ceremony to award the medal hoping that it recipient will soon be released and allowed to attend. According to the offical statement:
"Although Mr Chaudhry has been placed under house arrest and is not free to leave Pakistan, Dean Kagan has reached out to the chief justice regarding the award and hopes that he’ll be able to come to the Law School to receive it when the state of emergency is lifted."
The same statement announcing the award, identifies Chaudhry as Pakistan’s chief justice and not as a deposed or former judge.[19] [3]

[edit] References