Chief Justice Hamid Mir’s verdict in favour of Justice Khawaja Sharif – by Abdul Nishapuri

Following in the footsteps of Dr Shahid Masood, a fellow member of the Pakistani Taliban Union of Journalists, Hamid Mir too has assumed the position of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

Here is Hamid Mir’s latest, summary verdict on the Federal government’s decision to recommend Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif’s name as a judge in the Supreme Court.

The Ministry of Law and Justice have advised the president, through the prime minister, that Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif should be appointed a judge in the Supreme Court instead of Justice Saqib Nisar in the light of Al Jihad Trust case of 1996.

However, in the words of “Chief Justice” Hamid Mir: “President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to confront Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on legal grounds, which interestingly have no weight and have already been rejected by top legal experts and respected retired judges.”

Here is what Hamid Mir wrote in The News today:

“President Zardari is not ready to appoint Justice Saqib Nisar as the new judge of the Supreme Court on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and proposes the name of Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif to be appointed as an SC judge on “merit”. Justice Khawaja Sharif is the chief justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC). He is also the most senior judge of the LHC but the Chief Justice of Pakistan recommended the name of Justice Saqib Nisar as the new judge of the Supreme Court, who is junior to Justice Khawaja Sharif.

The legal experts of President Asif Ali Zardari have advised him to “send back” the summary of chief justice to him instead of rejecting it. The Ministry of Law and Justice have also advised the president, through the prime minister, that Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif should be appointed a judge in the Supreme Court instead of Justice Saqib Nisar in the light of Al Jihad Trust case of 1996.

However, the top legal experts, including former CJP Justice (retd) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmad, Akram Sheikh and even the petitioner of the Al Jihad Trust case Wahabul Khairi advocate, in their views have already said that it is the CJP’s discretion to promote any judge of the high court. They say that it is not necessary to appoint the senior-most judge of a high court as a Supreme Court judge. They have agreed that the CJP’s recommendations are in line with the Constitution as well as Al Jihad Trust case.

President Zardari will now ask the Chief Justice of Pakistan to review his opinion in the light of the Al Jihad Trust case, as interpreted by the Law Ministry, and will recommend the name of Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif for the new appointment because he is the most senior judge of the LHC.

According to legal circles, Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif enjoys excellent working and personal relations with Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. He played a very important role in the movement for the restoration of deposed judges. Justice Saqib Nisar was one of the four judges of the LHC who took a fresh oath in 2008 and they were reappointed in the LHC. Justice Khawaja Sharif was also offered a reappointment by the Zardari regime. He was assured that he will be elevated to the Supreme Court very soon but Khawaja Sharif refused reappointment. According to the legal circles, Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry respects Khawaja Sharif a lot for his courage and he is very much satisfied with his performance also. He thinks that Justice Khawaja Sharif is running the LHC affairs very well despite the shortage of 40 judges and that is why he wants Khawaja Sharif to continue in Lahore as the LHC chief justice.

According to the summary sent by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to the President of Pakistan, Justice Saqib Nisar is a very competent and honest judge. Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry also wrote in his summary that he is recommending the name of Justice Saqib Nisar with the consent of Justice Khawaja Sharif.”

Source: The News

The following is an account of ‘the credentials’ of Justice Khawaja Sharif:

Mr. Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif was born on December 9, 1948 in Lahore.

His lordship’s father Khawaja Muhammad Sadiq was one of the big cloth merchants of Anarkali Bazar, Lahore. He was a close friend of Mian Muhammad Sharif (father of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif). Both of these families have joint interests in trading and profiteering.

Khawaja Sharif was elected twice as President of Lahore Bar Association in the year 1989 and 1991. On both occasions, he is known to have used very strong, Sheikh Rasheed and Hussain Haqqani style, language against the Bhutto family.

In view of his loyalty to the Nawaz Sharif’s family, Khawaj Sharif was appointed as Advocate General of Punjab by Shahbaz Sharif from May 31, 1997 till May 20, 1998.

On the recommendation of Mian Shahbaz Sharif, he was appointed as a judge in the Lahore High Court on May 21, 1998.

After General Musharraf’s martial law in 1999, Justice Khawaja Sharif was one of those ‘brave’ judges of Lahore High Court who took oath on PCO 1999, thus providing legitimacy to the military regime of General Musharraf.

In General Musharraf’s second emergency in 2007, Justice Khawaja remained deposed from the bench from November 3, 2007 till March 17, 2009 when he was restored by the PPP government.

During deposition, Justice Khawaja Sharif used some of the worst kind of language against President Zardari and the Pakistan People’s Party.

Justice Khawaja was appointed Chief Justice of Lahore High Court on April 12, 2009.

In 2009, Justice Khawaja Sharif’s Lahore High Court decided to adjourn elections in Rawalpindi and Lahore as per the wishes of his masters Messrs Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif. The decision has been recently quashed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

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In December 2009, Khawaja Muhammad Sharif blocked deportation of terror suspects (US nationals) to the USA.

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Also in December 2009, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s escort cars met with an accident. Nothing happened to the car in which Justice Iftikhar was travelling. However, within minutes the rumor-bazaar came alive with the right-wing Urdu anchors and reporters insinuating who might be behind the accident. But the most dangerous statement came from Lahore High Court’s Chief Justice Khwaja Sharif. He left no ambiguity when he said that the accident was in fact a conspiracy against Justice Chaudhry by the people who wanted him to give certain decision in their favor. “Perhaps it was a warning because the CJP is tightening the noose around powerful mafias,” he said, indirectly pointing towards President Zardari and the PPP government.

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In July 2009, Justice Khawaja Sharif stated that “Government knows Bhutto’s assassins. While the UN commission is in the country to probe former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, the Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif’s shocking claims that the government is aware about all the facts regarding the murder, has raised questions over the PPP-led government’s intentions. Addressing the members of the Islamabad District Bar Association, Sharif said the government is aware about the facts behind the killing, and that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) should quiz the government rather than making an appeal before the Chief Justice.

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In view of the above, we request the President of Pakistan that this man, namely Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, must be thrown out of Pakistan’s judiciary. His presence in the Supreme Court of Pakistan will be as shameful as it has been in the Lahore High Court.

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