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Sharief chargesheeted in contempt case

The supreme court today chargesheeted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief in the contempt of court case, for making derogatory remarks against the judiciary.

Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who summoned the prime minister today, served the chargesheet on Sharief and 10 other respondents, including Law Minister Khalid Anwar.

Sharief, who was ordered to be present in person in the court, stormed out of the court angrily along with his cabinet colleagues just before the chief justice served the chargesheet which was received on his behalf by his counsel. The hearing into the case has been adjourned till tomorrow. On a request from Sharief's counsel, the prime minister has been exempted from appearing in court.

If found guilty, Sharief could be removed from power.

However Sharief's parliamentary majority amended the contempt law yesterday, giving him a right of appeal and suspend a conviction while the appeal is being heard.

In Pakistan where it is a crime to criticise the judiciary, Sharief was accused of contempt after he told a news conference that Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah overstepped his authority and interfered with parliament's right to make laws. He is the first sitting prime minister to face charges in Pakistan's 50-year history.

Now the chief justice's legitimacy too has been challenged. A lawyer in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province yesterday filed a petition in the provincial court effectively saying Shah had been promoted out of turn.

More senior judges were passed over, contrary to the law, Raja Mohammed Afsar said.

The feud between Sharief and the chief justice began several months ago when the prime minister refused to expand the supreme court bench in line with Justice Shah's demand.

Sharief later conceded defeat, but not before Justice Shah resurrected corruption charges against the prime minister and suspended some constitutional amendments passed by his 10-month-old government.

Since the end of martial law in 1988, every freely elected government in Pakistan has been prematurely dismissed from power, always after a protracted feud with another institution. In the past it has been the president and prime minister who have clashed.

Benazir Bhutto was sacked after a prolonged battle with President Sharief's first term in power was cut short also after a drawn-out battle with the president.

And in November 1996, Bhutto was again dismissed from power after she and longtime ally, President Farooq Ahmed Leghari, fell out.

However Sharief moved quickly after his election last February to remove the president's constitutional authority to dismiss governments.

Soon after that, the conflict between Sharief and the chief justice emerged.

Sharief has pleaded not guilty to the contempt charges; three editors of newspapers that carried Sharief's offending remarks and several legislators who criticised Justice Shah also pleaded not guilty to contempt allegations.

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