Peace and Justice Post

The Independent, July 22, 2007

By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent

Pakistan’s supreme court dealt President Pervez Musharraf a damaging and embarrassing blow yesterday, ruling that his decision to fire the chief justice was illegal and ordering that he be reinstated.

In what may be the most direct challenge to the military dictator’s authority since he came to power by means of a coup in 1999, the court voted 10-3 to quash a case of alleged misconduct against Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday said that General Musharraf’s order suspending Mr Chaudhry was “set aside as being illegal”.

In a move that backfired, General Musharraf sacked Mr Chaudhry in March after accusing him of corruption. The move was widely seen as politically motivated, given the judge’s investigations into alleged human rights abuses by forces in Baluchistan province.

While General Musharraf might have assumed his decision to force out Mr Chaudhry would have had little impact beyond the legal community, in the months since his ousting the 59-year-old has become a rallying point for the disparate elements of Pakistan’s political opposition.

Everywhere the judge has gone to deliver lectures to lawyers’ groups, he has been mobbed by people who want to catch a glimpse of the man who dared to stand up to General Musharraf.

Yesterday’s decision triggered celebrations not only outside the Supreme Court in the capital Islamabad, but elsewhere across the country. Mr Chaudhry’s lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, said: “He has been restored and it is a victory for the entire nation.”

General Musharraf said last month he would accept whatever decision the court made, something repeated by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who called for unity as the country heads to elections this year. “I would like to emphasise that we must all accept the verdict with the grace and dignity reflective of a mature nation,” he said. “This is not the time to claim victory or defeat. The constitution … must prevail at all times.”

Some of General Musharraf’s opponents believe his decision to remove Mr Chaudhry was an attempt to pre-empt any legal challenges to his plan to ask the country’s regional and national assemblies to give him another five-year term.

Since the operation to clear the Red Mosque this month, which left more than 100 people dead, and the subsequent violent backlash, Pakistan’s deteriorating security situation has overshadowed the judicial crisis.

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