BB kay qatial abi tak bahir hain muj se bardashat nh hota kash mein kuch kar sakati

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has issued notice to Qazi Muhammad Anwar, President, Supreme Court Bar Association, to appear on February 14 and submit reply for his alleged involvement in possessing explosives and detonators. Barrister Bacha, a leading lawyer of the Peshawar High Court, had filed an application with the PBC, seeking disqualification of Qazi Muhammad Anwar for being a convicted person in a case of possessing hand grenades and detonators. The Executive Committee of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has issued notice to Qazi Anwar to explain his position, Barrister Bacha told The News on Monday in the Supreme Court. The PBC, the main forum of the country’s legal community, is the main licence issuance authority to the lawyers of the country. Qazi Anwar is also facing rigging charges in the last annual elections of the association. His opponent and runner-up in the SCBA elections, Barrister Bacha had also moved an application to the committee for probing the matter. In his application, Barrister Bacha has alleged that Qazi Anwar is a convicted person for having grenades and detonators in his possession thus a convicted person can neither be an advocate of the Supreme Court nor could and should represent the SCBA as president as he is patently disqualified. Qazi Anwar, however, reportedly said that the Lahore High Court had set aside his conviction in the case. Meanwhile, Barrister Bacha told reporters that Qazi Anwar was sentenced nine monthsí imprisonment by a military court for possessing explosives in 1979, adding that the Lahore High Court curtailed his punishment; however, his conviction was still intact. REFERENCE: PBC issues notice to Qazi Anwar By Sohail Khan Tuesday, February 02, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=27023

LAHORE, April 25: Chief Ehtesab Commissioner Justice Ghulam Mujaddid Mirza has dropped three references against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as they have either no substance and merit or they don’t pertain to the period with which the Ehtesab Act deals. In a fourth reference, the CEC has excluded the prime minister as respondent but has referred the matter for inquiry and investigation to the Ehtesab Bureau. The other respondent in the reference against whom the EB will now carry out investigations, is NWFP Chief Minister Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi. Knowledgeable sources say that proceedings on many other references against the prime minister and others are in progress. Records summoned by the CEC in various cases have reached the Ehtesab commission and are being examined. In the light of the records, Justice Mirza will decide whether or not to refer the matters to the Ehtesab benches of the relevant high courts. A reference against Prime Minister Sharif is that he offered Rs10 million to ANP Senator Qazi Muhammad Anwar to get his support for the Shariat Bill. The CA-15 bill, though passed by the National Assembly, is yet to be approved by the Senate as the ruling party does not have the required two-third majority in the Upper House. Maj-Gen Sikandar Hayat Khan, who has recently been removed as chairman of the prime minister’s monitoring and evaluation cell, is the co-respondent in the said reference. After going through the relevant evidence and record, justice Mirza ruled on Saturday that the complaint was devoid of merit and thus there was no need to initiate further proceedings on it in the light of the Ehtesab Act. “The complaint is, accordingly, ordered to be filed,” the CEC said in his four-page judgment. It was alleged in the complaint that Maj-Gen Hayat, on the direction of the prime minister offered Rs 10 million to Sen Qazi Anwar to support the CA-15 Bill in the Senate. The complainant, a PPP leader, appeared before the CEC on April 21 at Islamabad in response to the commission’s notice. He made an application under section 20 of the Ehtesab Act for summoning Sen Anwar, an advocate of the Supreme Court. He also said that Gen Hayat and the editor and reporter of weekly Tribune, Islamabad, be summoned. In addition to this application, he also produced a copy of the weekly, dated November 22 to 28, 1998, which carried an article on the subject.

Having gone through the article, the CEC said: “In my considered view the article does not advance the complainant’s case. On the contrary there are substantial and material discrepancies and contradictions in the narration of the Tribune’s article and the contents of the complaint. “For example,” the CEC said, “in the complaint it is stated that it was Maj-Gen Sikandar Hayat who had offered bribe to Sen Qazi Anwar in Peshawar in the last week of October, 1998, and that the former was sent by the prime minister to negotiate the deal and to offer Rs10 million which the general was carrying as a token money in a briefcase”. However, the CEC said in his order that the article did not substantiate that it was the Gen Hayat who had contacted the ANP leader and offered him the bribe. The CEC observed that “it is quite obvious that the stance taken in the complaint is irreconcilable with the interview given by the senator to the weekly and cannot be conformed on any plain. It also does not stand to reason that the token money of Rs10 million was offered and that too for one vote. It also does not stand to reason that the bribe was offered to Qazi Anwar when he was present on the premises of the Peshawar High Court.

Justice Mirza said: “In view of the above, I am of the opinion that the complaint is devoid of merit and, therefore, it is not necessary to initiate proceedings on it under the Ehtesab Act, 1997. The complaint is, accordingly, ordered to be filed”. Yet another case dismissed by the CEC is that the prime minister, without any authority, had allotted 18 plots to a single family. A similar reference dismissed by the CEC says that the PM allotted plots to Ms Fatima Ishrat Iqbal and her daughter Nuzhat Iqbal in the Area Development Scheme 1, Rawalpindi. Justice Mirza said the case did not pertain to the period the Ehtesab Act deals with and was thus dropped. Another reference closed by the CEC was based on the allegation that the prime minister had awarded Senate ticket to law minister Khalid Anwar. Justice Mirza ruled that the proper forum for this matter was the chief election commissioner and not the chief Ehtesab commissioner. The fourth case pertained to illegal acquisition of precious lands in Abbottabad district. The CEC ruled that the matter was examined but due to lack of substantial evidence against the prime minister, his name was deleted as respondent. However, he referred the matter against NWFP Chief Minister Mehtab Abbasi to the Ehtesab Bureau for investigation. REFERENCE: CEC drops 3 references against Nawaz Ashraf Mumtaz DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending:01 May 1999 Issue:05/18 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1999/01May99.html

Qazi Anwar was sentenced nine months in jail for possessing explosives in 1979, adding Lahore High Court curtailed his punishment; however, his charge was kept unchanged. PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court’s Barrister Bacha requested Pakistan Bar Council’s Executive Committee for the ineligibility of Supreme Court Bar Association President Qazi Muhammed Anwar, Geo News reported Monday. Talking to Geo News, Bacha said Qazi Anwar was sentenced nine months in jail for possessing explosives in 1979, adding Lahore High Court curtailed his punishment; however, his charge was kept unchanged. Bacha said a convicted person cannot be the representative of the lawyers; therefore, he demanded the removal of Qazi from his office. He said the PBC’s executive council directed Qazi Anwar to appear before the body on February 14 for explanation in this connection. REFERENCE: PBC approached for Qazi Anwar’s ineligibility Updated at: 1445 PST, Monday, February 01, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=97613

Sanctimonious Judges & Anarchist Lawyers. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2010/03/sanctimonious-judges-anarchist-lawyers.html

Pakistani Judiciary and Judges are quite fond of Islam and often raise finger on everybody’s Faith and Conduct and that too to the limit which can be termed showing off or in plain Urdu “Riya Kari and Dhikawa” i.e. Shirk-e-Asgher – Minor Polytheism.

Instead of showing off love of Islam and exploiting the name of Islam and name of Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] just read Hadith of his [PBUH] precious Hadith on Showing Off [Riyakari – Shirk Asgher – Minor Polytheism]. Let me quote a Quranic verse and Hadith on this Riya [Showoff] in which Judiciary is indulged in the name in the of Islam.

قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاء رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا

Interpretation of the meaning:

Say: I am only a mortal like you. My Lord inspireth in me that your Allah is only One Allah. And whoever hopeth for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous work, and make none sharer of the worship due unto his Lord. [AL-KAHF (THE CAVE) Chapter 18 – Verse 110]

1 – On the authority of Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) in a marfoo’ form, the following Qudsi narration: “I am Independent of all the partners (ascribed to me). Whoever performs a deed while associating partners with Me, I will leave him and his Shirk.” [Sahih Muslim]

2 – It is reported that the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said: “Of the things which I fear for my Ummah, the thing which I fear most is minor Shirk. Then he was asked about minor Shirk, and he said: “It is ar-riyaa.

On the authority of Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri (ra ), in a marfoo’ form, it is reported: “Shall I not tell you what I fear for you more than Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjaal?” They replied: “Yes.” He (saas ) said: “It is hidden Shirk such as when a person stands in prayer and he improves his prayer when he knows that others are watching.” (Narrated by Imam Ahmad)

Allah’s Messenger Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) informs us in this Hadith that he worries for his Ummah and fears for them Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjaal, but that more than this, he fears for them hidden Shirk, which is riyaa`; this is because the danger of Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjaal is confined to a specific time, while the danger of riyaa` is present at all times and in all places and because riyaa` is hidden and its power of seduction is great and it is difficult to free oneself from its grip. In addition, it leads to showy, ostentatious behaviour, self-glorification, self-promotion, all of which appeal to the weaknesses in man.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) warned the Chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that he may be put behind bars if the judicial orders delivered on National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), were not implemented, Geo News reported Monday. Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday said in his remarks that it is unthinkable why the court order on the NRO is being criticized; though, the Parliament threw it away terming it ‘a stinking mouse’. Justice Ramday wondered what wrong was done in delivering the NRO verdict that a volley of invectives is being showered. A seven-member of the SC headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry heard the corruption case against Riaz Sheikh, FIA’s additional DG Finance. Court voiced annoyance at Acting Chairman of NAB for not appearing before the court. When he came to the court, the SC ordered him to present by this afternoon the report on the implementation of the NRO verdict The CJ addressed the NAB acting chief, ‘If you fear, then go home. You are doing your job and want to get the SC slurred.’ The CJ Chaudhry expressed surprise saying how Riaz continued in a high office despite being accused of massive corruption. The court also called Home Secretary. The court also scolded the Rasheed A Rizvi for pleading the case for Ahmed Riaz Sheikh. The CJ said the court ordered to restore the accountability cases to October 5, 2007 position; however, the matter is being slighted with letters being addressed to the Attorney General and sometimes to the Law Secretary. REFERENCE: NAB chief to be jailed for defying court order: SC warns Updated at: 1245 PST, Monday, March 29, 2010

A disoriented and visibly disturbed Dasti informed the bench that he had done his Masters in Islamiat from Al-Shahadat Al Almiya, Multan, in 1998. But he failed to satisfy the court about the period he had spent in the religious institution to get the degree. He answered wrongly when asked by Justice Ramday about the names of Quranic paras and surahs and arithmetic table. He could not answer when asked about the names of the first two surahs of the Holy Quran. He answered wrongly when asked by Justice Ramday about the names of Quranic paras and surahs and arithmetic table. He could not answer when asked about the names of the first two surahs of the Holy Quran. “Why are you (Mr Dasti) doing wrong things? You are a representative of the public,” Justice Ramday said. “Why do we always misuse the name of God and Islam?” he asked. REFERENCE: Dasti pulled up over fake degree; resigns By Nasir Iqbal Friday, 26 Mar, 201

Judge not lest ye be Judged.

LAHORE: Protests a gainst a lawyer slapping a civil judge in a Faisalabad courtroom are still being registered, as at least one hundred civil judges of Lahore have decided to go on leave, a private TV channel reported on Saturday. According to the channel, civil judges in the provincial metropolis and Arifwala also demanded a one-month leave of absence in protest against the slapping incident. Liaquat Javaid advocate had slapped Civil Judge Tariq Mehmood in a local Faisalabad court during case proceedings. Meanwhile, lawyers have warned that they would continue to boycott courts until the withdrawal of charges against Liaquat, while court proceedings in Pakpattan and Arifwala remained suspended for a second day on Saturday. REFERENCES: 100 civil judges go on leave over slapping incident Daily Times Monitor Sunday, March 28, 2010 – Lawyer slaps civil judge in Faisalabad By Muhammad Saleem Tuesday, 23 Mar, 2010

BARELY days after the Punjab chief minister was caught playing to the Taliban gallery, another high official from the province is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. This time, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Mohammad Sharif has sparked outrage for reportedly saying that Hindus were responsible for financing acts of terrorism in Pakistan. The remarks came while the judge was hearing two identical petitions against the possible extradition of Afghan Taliban suspects. It may well have been a slip of the tongue by Mr Sharif, who might have mistakenly said ‘Hindu’ instead of ‘India’ — nevertheless it was a tasteless remark to say the least. Although such remarks warrant criticism what makes them worse is the position of the person who makes them. These sort of comments are the last thing one expects to hear from a judge, that too the chief justice of a provincial high court. What sort of message are we sending to our minorities, as well as to the world, when the holder of such a respected public office makes comments that come across as thoughtless? The Hindu members of the National Assembly walked out of the house on Tuesday to protest the remarks. The members said the comments had hurt the feelings of Pakistani Hindus — and there is no doubt that they had. REFERENCE: Tactless remarks Dawn Editorial Thursday, 18 Mar, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Respected Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, just appointed as ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court, has decided not to draw his salary and has donated the same to Al-Mizan Foundation, a welfare organization for the serving and retired employees of the judiciary including subordinate courts. Justice Ramday, who was reluctant to re-join the apex court as an ad hoc judge and had already planned for his retirement, has formally written to the chief justice that he would serve as an honorary ad hoc judge without salary. REFERENCE: Ramday donates salary to workers Friday, February 19, 2010 By Ansar Abbasi

Justice (r) Khalilur Rehman Ramday would be given Rs 115,700; Jehanzab Khan would be given Rs 732,200; Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary would be given Rs 853,100 for the construction of a bedroom and a fiber shed at 14-B Golf Road; Mazhar Ali Khan would be given Rs 808,800 for bamboo fences, steel doors, tuff paves, a fiber shed and a guest bedroom; Aftab Ahmed Cheema would be given Rs 722,880; Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, a former president, would be given Rs 431,330 to install barbed wire at 1-Shanan Road; Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, an adviser to the chief minister, would be given Rs 2.7 million for new tile floors, wardrobes and kitchen cabinets at 1-A Upper Mall;

ISLAMABAD: Meanwhile, certain key lawyers are also prepared to challenge the proposed constitutional amendment as soon as it is approved by parliament and made part of the Constitution. While many top lawyers, including Hamid Khan, Justice Tariq, Qazi Anwar, Rashid A Razvi and Akram Sheikh, have already voiced their opposition to the proposed changes in the Constitution for the appointment of judges, things are moving towards a possible future confrontation between the legal fraternity and the government. Interestingly, while the committee, which includes members of all different political parties present in parliament, has invited the input of politicians as well as that of lawyers leaders, no reference has been made to the superior judiciary to take its view on this tricky matter. Justice (retd) Tariq says that he knows certain members of the legal fraternity who are prepared to challenge such a constitutional amendment as soon as it is passed and approved. Akram Sheikh has also written an open letter to Nawaz Sharif to save the judiciary from being harmed by this move. Experienced lawyers like Justice (retd) Tariq are of the view that for the appointment of judges, lawyers as well as parliamentarians should not be involved otherwise, he warned, the judiciary would become highly politicised. He said that while the parliamentary body proposes a six-member commission, including its chairman, PPP leader and former Attorney General Latif Khosa has proposed a 16-member commission, which according to Tariq would make a mockery of the whole appointment procedure. According to the parliamentary body’s recommendations in case of appointment of judges in the Supreme Court, the judicial commission would be headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan while it would include five members. Out of the total six-member commission, half would be superior court judges while the rest would be either government representatives or advocates. The commission would have three judges, including the CJP and two senior-most judges of the apex court. Other three members would include federal law minister, the attorney general for Pakistan and a nominee of the Pakistan Bar Council. REFERENCE: Lawyers, judges smell a rat in Rabbani proposals By Ansar Abbasi Saturday, March 20, 2010 By Ansar Abbasi

ARIFWALA: Four civil judges resigned from their offices here on Friday to protest against the misbehaviour with their colleague by a lawyer in Faisalabad. The four civil judges — Adnan Mushtaq Bhatti, Manzoor Hussain, Imtiaz Hussain Sheikh and Adnan Anjum Gondal — sent their resignations to Additional Sessions Judge Mehmoodul Hassan. Earlier, the four civil judges locked their courtrooms for an hour. After opening their courtrooms, the judges went to their residences to register their protest. They demanded immediate arrest of the accused. Our Rawalpindi correspondent adds: The judicial work in the Rawalpindi district courts remained suspended as all the civil judges went on a strike against the Faisalabad incident. REFERENCE: Slapping of judge by lawyer in Faisalabad Saturday, March 27, 2010 By our correspondent

FAISALABAD: Forty-five civil judges of district Faisalabad on Monday tendered their resignations in protest against manhandling of their colleague, Tariq Mehmood Kahot, allegedly by an advocate in the court. The civil judges, in their resignations delivered to the Senior Civil Judge, made it clear that if the accused advocate, Liaquat Javaid, was not taken to task under the law on charges of disgracing, humiliating, manhandling and abusing in the presence of the court officials, litigants and other lawyers, they would not perform their duties from the next working day, Wednesday. Civil Judge Tariq Mehmood Kahot reportedly took up a case in which the court bailiff had taken into custody an accused involved in a default case. Liaquat Javaid, counsel for the accused, asked the judge to release the accused as the default amount had already been deposited. The learned judge, after perusing the file and record of the case, observed that there was no such receipt of payment on the file and declared his inability to entertain the contention of the advocate. On this, Liaquat Javaid Advocate flared up and started abusing the learned judge. He rushed to the dais of the court and allegedly slapped the judge repeatedly and beat him up severely. The court officials and some lawyers, after hectic efforts, succeeded in rescuing the judge, who went into his retiring room. REFERENCE: Judge slapped 45 civil judges resign in protest Tuesday, March 23, 2010

LAHORE: The arrival of Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani at Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s dinner hosted for Justice (retd) Khalilur Ramday in Islamabad on Tuesday night may have mellowed down the government-judiciary tiff a bit by spreading smiles all over but it has certainly pained thousands of litigants across the country who have pinned high hopes in an otherwise widely-deemed independent judicial system since March 2007. These litigants, many of whom had provided energy to the chief justice by practically expressing solidarity with him on the roads after he was deposed twice by Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf in 2007, today feel that if the prime minister can meet the Supreme Court judges with such ease while he is actually defending the NRO beneficiaries in his cabinet despite explicit Supreme Court orders to treat the allegedly corrupt elements in accordance with the law, then a commoner should also have the right to meet the judges and defend himself or herself in a ‘more congenial’ and ‘more informal’ environment. Already disturbed by an unprecedented backlog of cases in courts due to one reason or the other, the premier’s meeting with the chief justice over a sumptuous dinner may have actually rubbed salt in the wounds of waiting litigants. While Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in August 2009, had exhorted his country’s judiciary “to wipe every tear of every waiting litigant” by eliminating the scourge of a huge backlog of cases, his Pakistani counterpart is making every effort to prevent his cabinet members from facing the law rather than convincing the country’s president to appoint judges in time to minimise the miseries of waiting litigants. REFERENCE: CJ’s meeting with PM against traditions Thursday, February 18, 2010 By Sabir Shah Judge not lest ye be Judged -Code of Judicial Ethics. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2010/02/judge-not-lest-ye-be-judged-code-of.html

That Aitzaz was behind this act of CJ against “set procedures governing the role, functions and ethics of judges” is confirmed by The News:

ISLAMABAD: Who persuaded Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to reverse the almost fatal advice of some top legal minds and seek a quick reconciliation with the chief justice of Pakistan? This question is widely being asked and everyone is coming up with one name — Barrister Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan. According to sources, Aitzaz Ahsan played a key role and Gilani accepted his advice, saving his government from a catastrophe. The reported disagreement of Attorney General Anwar Mansoor with the decision also played an important role, the sources say. The lawyers’ leader not only rejected the legal interpretation of the government advisers on the judges’ appointment, he also informed the PM that it was in violation of the Constitution and that the PM should try to hold a meeting with the chief justice to remove misunderstandings. The same advisers had misled the PM, informing him that the executive order for the restoration of judges required ratification from parliament.

The advisers under question — Law Minister Dr Babar Awan and PM’s adviser Latif Khosa —- are facing grave accusations of receiving money from their clients to buy the judges for favourable verdicts. Instead of correcting their conduct, they apparently nurtured grudges against the chief justice. Background discussions reveal that Aitzaz was instrumental in breaking the ice as he advised the prime minister that he was being misled through selective interpretation of some clauses of the Constitution. The Law Ministry had diverted the attention of the PM and the president from Article 260 of the Constitution that makes it binding on the president to honour the recommendations of the chief justice on the question of judges’ appointment. According to the sources, as Aitzaz invited the PM’s attention to Article 260, the chief executive of the country was caught by surprise, realising that he was being kept in the dark. As the prime minister realised that a great blunder had been committed, Aitzaz advised him to seek a meeting with the chief justice and assured him that things would be settled. The PM’s gate-crashing into the CJ’s dinner was in this backdrop. As far the attorney general’s role in this crisis is concerned, he had reportedly told the PM that a blunder had been committed by issuing the notifications and the government was destined to be defeated in the case. However, the sources insisted that the AGP and Aitzaz had played a role in facilitating the PM’s Tuesday participation in the CJ’s dinner. REFERENCE: Who played what role in the drama Thursday, February 18, 2010 By Umar Cheema & Dilshad Azeem

He said in the garb of saving the democracy, the former lawyers’ leaders are siding with worst ever dictatorship in civil dress. On the other hand four top leaders – Aitzaz Ahsan, Athar Minallah, Justice (R) Tariq Mehmood and Ali Ahmad Kurd – have their own views on the issues. Despite absence of these leaders, Hamid Khan, Rasheed A Rizvi, Latif Afridi, Mehmoodul Hassan and present president of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Qazi Anwar, who are also the leaders of the historic lawyers’ movement in last three years, actively participated in Monday’s lawyers strike by keeping all the interests aside. Justice (R) Tariq Mehmood was of the view that if the lawyers would have announced staging of protest in front of the Prime Minister House or the Presidency he would have been part of this protest but he is against boycott of the courts. “Now, there is an independent judiciary, so why we are boycotting the courts?” Justice Tariq gave his reason for not participating in Monday’s lawyers’ protest. When asked that why he did not give this suggestion to the present leadership of the lawyers’ movement, he said whenever he expressed his views to this new leadership they simply listen to it and ignore it. Ali Ahmad Kurd, when approached by this correspondent was of the view that he will not disclose the reasons for not participating in lawyers’ protest right now and will make his disclosures after three days. Athar Minallah also said he would record his reasons later, while Aitzaz Ahsan did not respond to many calls and messages sent to him. Aitzaz was also specifically sent some questions, which also remained unanswered….” REFERENCE: Past heroes, now zeroes Tuesday, February 16, 2010 Viewpoint By Ahmad Noorani

THE TRUTH IS AS UNDER:

In Hamid Mir’s talkshow, Capital Talk, on 22 December 2009, Ali Ahmad Kurd expressed three key reservations about the current Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of Pakistan:

1. CJP and other judges of the Supreme Court are populist. They read daily newspapers, watch TV talk-shows and then shape their decisions / verdicts consistent with the ‘popular demand or expectations’.

2. CJP and other judges of the SC are rushing the current lopsided process of justice (aimed against one specific person, i.e. President Zardari), and in the rushed process, justice is likely to be crushed.

3. Kurd noted that it was being forecast by certain circles (e.g. Dr Shahid Masood and Shaheen Sehbai) that the Supreme Court will announce an important decision (against PPP) in December 2009, something which actually happened. Why this coincidence? (Why did the agents of establishment against democracy happen to know exact dates?) Asma Jahangir too, in the same program of Capital Talk, expressed her reservations about the inclusion of Article 62 etc, related to Islamic provision of Ameen etc for the eligibility to be a member of parliament, in the Supreme Court’s judgement. She termed the judgement as poorly reasoned, politically biased, resembling a tribal jirgah style judgement instead of a due process of justice. Ali Ahmed Kurd’s description of the likes of Iftikhar Chaudhry & Khawaja Sharif December 22nd, 2009 Omar Khattab

LAHORE: Judges of the higher judiciary are making up their minds about cases after reading newspaper headlines and watching TV shows, former president Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Ali Ahmed Kurd said on Tuesday. Describing the present situation as “justice hurry and justice worry”, Kurd deplored the fact that the judges were visiting and addressing the bars and said they would have to “prove themselves worthy of their positions”. According to Kurd, judges in the United States neither read newspapers nor watched TV programmes, but focused only on their work. – ISLAMABAD: Ali Ahmed Kurd, the firebrand leader of the lawyers’ movement and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who has been keeping quiet for quite some time, surprised a lot of people on Tuesday with his blunt criticism of the way the Supreme Court was behaving. Judges should “behave like judges”, he said. Speaking during a talk show on “Challenges facing the judiciary”, he said that people had reservations about the verdict handed down by the Supreme Court on petitions challenging the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

According to him, the judgment appeared to be based on newspaper headlines and talk shows of private TV channels. Mr Kurd said that an independent judiciary had been restored after a great struggle, adding that the country would become stronger if the judiciary acted in the manner expected by the nation during the struggle. “If it does not happen, it will cause a blow to national security.” He said he had been invited by various bar councils after the restoration of the judiciary, but he preferred to keep quiet. He said he did not attend functions where the chief justice had been invited and quit his practice as a lawyer in the Supreme Court. It was astonishing to see judges visiting bar councils, he added. Mr Kurd described the National Judicial Policy as detrimental to the judicial system. He pointed out that a deadline of Dec 31 had been set for courts to decide cases. He said the maxim of ‘justice hurried is justice buried’ would turn out to be true in many cases because these, including cases of murder and dacoity, and the rights of defence and the practice of producing evidence of many people would be compromised due to paucity of time. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Chairperson Asma Jehangir also criticised the Supreme Court’s judgment on the NRO and said it appeared to be a decision pronounced by a ‘jirga’. She was of the opinion that the NRO could have been declared null and void by merely declaring it as repugnant to Article 25 of the Constitution, but a Pandora’s box had been opened by the court. Syed Iqbal Haider and Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood also spoke on the occasion. REFERENCES: Kurd unhappy over SC verdict on NRO By Iftikhar A. Khan Wednesday, 23 Dec, 2009 – Judges deciding cases on media lines: Kurd Daily Times Monitor Wednesday, December 23, 2009

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