Pakistan's Supreme Court will on Thursday hear former envoy Husain Haqqani's plea to testify via video link from abroad on a mysterious memo before a judicial commission, which has warned that an arrest warrant could be issued if he does not return to the country.
Pakistan's powerful army 'intends to stay neutral', on the Supreme Court's decision to ask former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to explain why he imposed emergency rule nearly two years ago and sacked over 60 judges, according to a media report on Thursday. A bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was among the 60 judges sacked by Musharraf, had on Wednesday issued a notice to the former president.The move sparked speculation in political circles.
A 14-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry issued the notice while reviewing a decision made by Musharraf's hand-picked judges that validated the emergency and the sacking of the judges.
The world public must applaud the people of Pakistan for fighting authoritarianism and taking a major step towards real democratisation through an independent judiciary.
'Pakistan's judiciary has faced assaults in varying degree at one time or the other from virtually all successive governments.'
Unfazed by the demands from the estranged ally PML-N and the influential lawyers movement, Pakistan's ruling PPP has decided against re-instating deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry to his previous post and said he will have to work under the incumbent if re-appointed.
The United States on Monday welcomed the Pakistan government's announcement to reinstate deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, describing it as a 'statesmanlike decision' to defuse a serious confrontation and a 'substantial step' toward national reconciliation. "We welcome the announcement by the government of Pakistan of its plans to reinstate former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry," the US Embassy said in a statement.
Pakistan's Supreme Court has struck down President Asif Ali Zardari's order appointing two top judges, stoking fears of a fresh showdown between the government and judiciary with the ruling Pakistan People's Party blaming the fiercely independent Chief Justice for the crisis. Going against the recommendations of the country's top judge Iftikhar Chaudhry, the President on Saturday appointed Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif as a judge of the apex court.
He was the heroic chief justice who refused to bow down to the all-powerful Gen Pervez Musharraf. But today, as his son is embroiled in a scam, the halo over Pakistan's Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has slipped, reports Amir Mir
"We will take the decision in favour of the country and I believe Allah will help us in this regard," he told the BBC.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on formally charged Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Asif Yasin Malik for contempt of court after he failed to deliver on an undertaking for holding local body polls in cantonments across the country.
A day after claiming he had "bomb-like" evidence against the son of the Pakistan chief justice, a real estate tycoon on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that his relatives had paid a whopping Rs 342.5 million to Arsalan Iftikhar, including for losses he incurred while gambling. =
While hearing the petitions filed against the National Assembly Speaker's ruling in the contempt case against Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that a "convicted person is representing a population of 180 million people". "A prime minister does not only represent a party, but is also a country's representative," The Express Tribune quoted Justice Chaudhry as saying.
Although Sharif wanted Musharraf to be arrested and tried in a court of law on charges of treason, Zardari has convinced his new political partner to allow Musharraf an honourable exit by requesting him to step down. The new allies, however. decided that if Musharraf refused to step down, they would seek his impeachment.
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Friday reinstated suspended chief justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry to his post.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that legal challenges to President Pervez Musharraf's re-election in uniform should be heard by a larger bench headed by the chief justice, adding to the uncertainty over a new five-year term for the beleaguered military ruler.
Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf is planning to attack Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry again with the active support of Benazir Bhutto and covert support of the United States. High level meetings are going on in Islamabad in the last two days to chalk out a new strategy against Justice Chaudhry who is becoming a real threat to the Musharraf-Benazir understanding by puncturing the presidential ordinance through which PPP leaders were granted amnesty.
The government wanted an early end to the case as Chaudhry's suspension ended up creating one of the biggest political crisis during Musahrraf's eight year of military rule.
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday ordered action against former prime minister Raja Parvez Ashraf and several others in the multi-billion rupee development funds case.
President Pervez Musharraf has declared a state of emergency in Pakistan, the state run PTV reported on Saturday evening. He issued the provisional constitutional ordinance in his capacity as the chief of the army staff. Immediately after the announcement, army troops entered the Supreme Court building in Islamabad. Reports said that, Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry is likely to be removed from his post. Reports also suggested that Chaudhry has been detained.
In Jhelum and a few other places, the police fired teargas and made several arrests to control the surging crowds.
The deposed judge, who was recently named 'Lawyer of the Year' by US publication National Law Journal, said police were being sent to arrest protestors at a time when suicide attacks were being carried out in different parts of Pakistan.
Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry was on Tuesday accorded a hero's welcome by lawyers and staff when he arrived at the Supreme Court following his dramatic reinstatement by the government last week.
His petition created history as he became the first Chief Justice of Pakistan who sought justice from the very court he headed.
The Sharif brothers have asked the apex court to issue a judicial directive to the government, allowing them to return home.
Musharraf, who suspended Chaudhry in March for alleged misconduct and misuse of power, said he did nothing wrong and that he was a great supporter of an independent judiciary.
The chronology of events leading to the reinstatement of sacked Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges in Pakistan
Chaudhry said Jinnah's vision was to see Pakistan prosper as a democratic state embodying principles like the rule of law, freedom of speech, equality, tolerance, and protection of human rights and civil liberties.
The Pakistan government on Monday suspended Islamabad's police chief and two other officials, acting on a Supreme Court order against the violent crackdown on protestors during anti-Musharraf demonstrations, in which 80 people were wounded.
Defence lawyer Atezaz Ahsan said the Constitution of Pakistan provides discretionary powers to the President to dissolve the assembly. But in some cases the Supreme Court had exercised its jurisdiction over the discretionary powers of the President.
Musharraf had deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges after he imposed emergency in November 2007. The judges had challenged the constitutional validity of the emergency imposed by him. Musharraf had replaced the judges with a hand-picked judiciary, who also validated his re-election as president.
In a move towards political reconciliation in Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday met opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif offering an "olive branch", as reinstated chief justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry returned to his post after two years of protests over his ouster.
Soon after his release on Sunday night, the lawyer, who fought former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry's case in the Apex Court against presidential reference, warned the incoming Parliament to restore the judges, failing which the lawyers and masses will take to the streets.
And while this extremist-linked press spins on relatively unmolested, the country's secular television stations and newspapers face consistent harassment by the government,
Top Pakistani lawyer and a known Musharraf critic, Aitzaz Ahsan, freed after four months of detention, on Monday said he would file an FIR against the President for "illegally detaining" deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Ahsan, who is president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and a former minister, told a news conference that the FIR will be filed under sections of the Pakistan Penal Code that mainly deal with illegal detention.
It sought a report within a week from senior officials of Sindh province and the federal interior secretary Syed Kamal Shah.
"Gen Musharraf is mortally wounded. He may struggle for a while, but he will fall."
The killing came as suspended chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was to appear before the apex court that is hearing charges of misconduct against him.
The complaints said some 40 animals had died last year due to the nuclear waste.
Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that the Inter Services Intelligence is not a law enforcement agency or a customs authority and cannot take anyone into custody under the country's laws.
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