Pakistan's top judge reinstated

[intruder]

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry should be reinstated.
He was suspended in March on the orders of President Pervez Musharraf, after being accused of misusing his office for personal gain.

The Supreme Court judges ruled by 10 to three to reinstate him, and quashed all charges against him.

Mr Chaudhry has become the focus of opposition to the president, addressing rallies around the country.

His supporters say the suspension was an attempt to undermine the judiciary's independence in an election year.

The judiciary is here not as rivals, monitors or superiors to any institution

Presiding judge Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday


Judge 'was illegally held'
Timeline: Legal crisis

The BBC's Dan Isaacs in Islamabad says jubilant supporters of the judge are celebrating victory on the steps of the Supreme Court.

Observers say the ruling will be a major blow to the president, who has faced mounting opposition to his rule and a wave of bombings around the country in recent days.

Accusations

Lawyers representing Mr Chaudhry completed the presentation of their case on Friday.


A controversial figure, Chaudhry has considerable support

They demanded that he not only be reinstated as chief justice, but that all charges against him be dropped.

Mr Chaudhry had appealed against Gen Musharraf's decision to suspend him and have a judicial panel investigate him for the alleged abuse of office.

The court had to decide whether Gen Musharraf over-reached his powers and whether the charges against the chief judge should be pursued further.

Government officials say that several people have filed complaints with the president accusing Mr Chaudhry of misusing his office and receiving favours. In particular, he is alleged to have procured a top police job for his son.

The government says the case has no political motive.

But critics say the government has not shown similar zeal in pursuing more serious charges - such as financial embezzlement and property fraud - against other top judges.

They accuse the president of plotting to remove an independent-minded judge to forestall legal challenges to his plan to ask parliament for another five-year term in office.

High stakes

Mr Chaudhry's suspension in March triggered mass protests.


The row is seen by some as Gen Musharraf's biggest challenge

He has become a highly controversial figure in recent months as he has toured the country calling for an end to political interference in the judiciary.

Although he has not directly criticised Gen Musharraf, his campaign road show has definitely taken on the feel of a political campaign, Dan Isaacs says.

The legal issues are highly complex, our correspondent says, but what is at stake is fundamental - will Gen Musharraf be able to stay on as army chief as well as president, and will his re-election be decided by the current or next parliament?

Many people expect there to be a compromise allowing the chief justice to remain in office but barring him from making any decisions which concern Gen Musharraf's political future, our correspondent says.

 

[Ababeel]

Pakistan court reinstates top judge

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Supreme Court on Friday reinstated Pakistan's top judge, ruling that his suspension by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was "illegal" and dealing a major blow to Musharraf's standing.

Presiding Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday said Musharraf's order suspending Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was "set aside as being illegal."

Chaudhry's March 9 suspension had sparked protests by lawyers and opposition parties that have grown into a powerful pro-democracy movement just as Musharraf faces a rising tide of Islamic militancy.

The verdict is probably the biggest challenge to Musharraf's dominance since he seized power in a coup in 1999. It could further complicate his bid to win a new five-year presidential term this fall.

A GREAT BLOW TO THE DICTATORSHIP OF MUSHARRAF. HOPE COURT WILL BE FREE TO TAKE MORE AND MORE BOLD JUDGEMENTS AS TAKEN UNDER C.J. IFTIKHAR CHAUDHARY IN MANY CASES.

 

[solid snake]

OMG

Even though I don't particularly like Chaudry Iftikhar (he ordered the blocking of 'inappropriate inernet sites', I believe in free will), this is indeed good news. Iftikhar did stop the privitization of the steel mills, and people say that's a good thing. I don't know much about the issue to comment on that though.

 

[Ababeel]

OMG

Even though I don't particularly like Chaudry Iftikhar (he ordered the blocking of 'inappropriate inernet sites', I believe in free will), this is indeed good news. Iftikhar did stop the privitization of the steel mills, and people say that's a good thing. I don't know much about the issue to comment on that though.

What do you mean by inappropriate websites?
Regarding the Steel Mills, it was accused that the mill was sold at a very very cheap price.

 

[Bull]

Oh my God, Mushraff is having a real bad time. LM, more than 100 dead ina week and now this.

 

[solid snake]

What do you mean by inappropriate websites?
Regarding the Steel Mills, it was accused that the mill was sold at a very very cheap price.

Exactly. Nobody knows what 'inappropriate websites' means. So it's pretty much up to the Pakistan government what to block. I think sometime back they blocked an entire blogging site just because a few blogs were hosting the Muhammad cartoons.

I mean come on. This is 2007, you can't stop people from watching what they want to watch. And are we little kids that the state has to be our babysitter and block our channels?

BUT this thread is about the political implications of Chaudry's reinstatement, so I will stop the discussion about his Supereme Court decisions.

I think Chaudry might try to make Musharraf take off his uniform, Musharraf will get pissed if that happens. The result will not be good

 

[Ababeel]

I think the opposition is already challenging his bid to be the president with the present assembly. The Supreme Court must give a right and unbiased decision in this matter if it is referred to it or if possible to be reffered.

On the bad websites (I mean pornographic and immoral as well as websites sites defaming any religion must be banned. It is a right Islamic point of view and not an attack on the unwanted freedom of individual or freedom of expression, as it is in so called free western world.

 

[HAIDER]

Congrats to all my countrymen for rule of law...even Mushi is my fav

 

[dabong1]

I mean come on. This is 2007, you can't stop people from watching what they want to watch. And are we little kids that the state has to be our babysitter and block our channels?

so what about pedophiles and beheadings and other extreme things.
These have to be blocked no matter what anybody says about free speech.
Why not have an al qaeda channel....free speech

 

[dabong1]

The first solid nail in mushy's coffin.

 

[Asghar]

People have to realise that it was President Musharraf himself who gave the courts and judges independence along with the media. No other party in the past had dared. If he was a dictator his word would have been final and that would have been the end of it.

I still believe it was a mistake trying to get rid of the CJ in the way it happened and now the CJ has to be very careful what he says or how he acts in the future because he is cleary anti-goverment and therefore biased, when a judge should be independent and rule only on the facts presented in a case. If the President decided to get rid of him again he would do it the proper way this time and no one could argue that the CJ is not biased.

The President said the courts were independent, now finally people will believe him.

 

[roadrunner]

Funny the way peeps claim this as a defeat for Musharraf. It's actually his victory, showing he has no influence over the judiciary.

Musharraf did everything right, followed the Constitution to the letter. All that has happened is that they reinstated this loser. So be it. Can't get rid of corruption all in one go.

 

[Bull]

Funny the way peeps claim this as a defeat for Musharraf. It's actually his victory, showing he has no influence over the judiciary.

Musharraf did everything right, followed the Constitution to the letter. All that has happened is that they reinstated this loser. So be it. Can't get rid of corruption all in one go.

Yes no control over judicary!!! This proves that he fired the CJ with no reason at all. He was forced to allow Cj's case to be heard by this bench, he was forced to be released from house arrest.

 

[solid snake]

On the bad websites (I mean pornographic and immoral as well as websites sites defaming any religion must be banned. It is a right Islamic point of view and not an attack on the unwanted freedom of individual or freedom of expression, as it is in so called free western world.

I forgot what it's called, but the body that regulates cable TV in Pakistan blocked one of my favorite channels a few years ago. It used to show a lot of WWII and other war documentaries and movies. But at night R rated movies were on, so the cable guys took it off. That had really pissed me off.

The TV authority goes around trying to be the vice police when it really should be monitoring the quality of service being provided by the cable operators and the fees they charge. Often, the cable would just black out and when you called them, they'd say "jee peechay sai bijlee gai hoi hai, hum kuch nahi kar saktay".

Believe it or not, during the Euro 2004 soccer tournament, my cable went out the exact second David Bechkam ran up to hit the penalty kick.

Everyone has the internet now, **** isn't something hard to fing even in the Afghanistan of the Taliban era (saw it on a CNN report at the start of the 01 war).

So what I'm trying to say is that instead of wasting it's time trying to keep you from watching 'immoral' things, regulatory bodies should do their real jobs; look out for the consumer rights. Blocking and stuff like that only does harm.

so what about pedophiles and beheadings and other extreme things.
These have to be blocked no matter what anybody says about free speech.
Why not have an al qaeda channel....free speech

I would like to see you block them 100%

There are always methods of getting around filters. So you can block a thousand sites, a million more are there. If you want tax-payer money going to waste in this futile effort, go ahead and let them eat your money for doing this kind of uselss work. I want my Rs. to go towards something real.

The real responsibility lies with parents. They can teach their kids what to watch and what not to watch. My parents did, I don't need a filter or something to keep me from 'wrong activities'.

 

[blain2]

Funny the way peeps claim this as a defeat for Musharraf. It's actually his victory, showing he has no influence over the judiciary.

Musharraf did everything right, followed the Constitution to the letter. All that has happened is that they reinstated this loser. So be it. Can't get rid of corruption all in one go.

I concur and on top of that, he has already said that he will abide by and adhere to the SC decision on the CJP. This is a good thing for Pakistan.