Lawyers put off strike till Feb 14
By Mudassir Raja
Thursday, 28 Jan, 2010
RAWALPINDI: Lawyers postponed their strike till Feb 14 after the government assured them that the Supreme Court judgment on the National Reconciliation Ordinance would be implemented.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Supreme Court Bar Association president Qazi Mohammad Anwar said the call for a countrywide strike on Thursday had been put on hold after consultations with lawyers’ leaders.
He said the lawyers’ community did not want a confrontation with the government, but reserved the right to protest if the judgment was not implemented.
Qazi Anwar said Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira had assured him that the government would implement the SC judgment in letter and spirit.
He said Mr Kaira had offered to arrange his meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani but he did not want to meet Mr Gilani without other SCBA office-bearers.
He said that Latif Khosa, adviser to the prime minister, also informed him that the government had been working on a plan to implement the SC judgment.
Qazi Anwar said that in his opinion only a notification from the PM House was needed to implement the judgment.
He said that although the track record of the government about keeping the promises was not good, the lawyers would give it some time for the sake of democracy in the hope that the judgment would be implemented in letter and spirit.
Who is Abdullah ibn Ubayy?
Islamic tradition has labelled him as a Munafiq (hypocrite) and “leader of the Munafiqun. Not unlike ibn Ubayy, Qazi Mohammad Anwar claims sincerity to Pakistan and democracy, but is in fact undermining the very foundations of the country and democracy.
Who is Maulvi Iqbal Haider? Today, Maulvi Iqbal Haider submitted a petition to the Islamabad High Court (established by Pervez Musharraf in a decree on December 14, 2007) preemptively contesting the restoration of the deposed judges via parliament. It’s worth noting that he’s the head of a tiny party, the Awami Himayat Tehreek, formerly named the Pervez Musharraf Himayat Tehreek (Movement for the Support of Pervez Musharraf).
ISLAMABAD: Maulvi Iqbal Haider advocate on Monday alleged that close relatives of some judges on the Supreme Court bench were staging demonstrations in support of the ‘suspended’ chief justice outside the court. Haider, who supports the government stance on the presidential reference, stood up during the hearing of the constitutional petition of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry by a larger bench of the Supreme Court, alleging that Acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas had struck off his petition from the cause list with mala fide intention.
On this, presiding judge Justice Javed Iqbal Buttar asked him to show respect to the chief justice and avoid talking in that way. “No application from your side is before us. Therefore, you should take the seat,” he added. Haider submitted that such people were sitting in the larger bench whose close relatives hold demonstrations outside the court in support of the chief justice. Therefore, objection can be raised against this bench.
Justice Butter said, “You should file the application. We will see it.” Maulvi Iqbal Haider pleaded, “What will I do if I go outside to file the application and the court renders verdict?” The presiding judge said, “You mean that we should leave the court.” Haider said, “I should be sent to jail or the court should summon my application and hear it.” Justice Javed Butter said, “We cannot do these two jobs. Several decisions have been pronounced in the country, which need to be reviewed.”
ISLAMABAD: Last-ditch efforts are being made to undo the grand victory of the people as some petitions are being filed in the Abdul Hameed Dogar Supreme Court to get the March 17 notification to restore Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry suspended. An extremely-controversial character Maulvi Iqbal Haider, who generally has the reputation of filing dubious petitions on the wishes of latent forces, is preparing a petition seeking the suspension of the March 17 notification.
The first hint of the conspiracy came when former SCBA president Aitzaz Ahsan said on Tuesday he was getting vibes that the restoration of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar and other deposed judges might be challenged. A senior judge of the present Supreme Court, also referred as the Dogar Court, also privately told this correspondent that some negative elements might try to do so. Despite being a PCO judge he, however, warned that any such effort would badly harm Pakistan. There is no clue as to who is trying to push the clock back by recreating the judicial crisis. The reports have even travelled to other members of the legal fraternity, including Athar Minallah, advocate. Till recently, the spokesman of Justice Iftikhar, Minallah said he, too, had been informed that the Dogar Court would possibly become a part of the conspiracy to prevent Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry from getting back his office on March 22.
Justice (retd) Malik Qayyum said he did not know of any conspiracy. Qayyum, who is known to have close contacts with the retiring Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, said all and sundry should accept the restoration of the Nov 2 judiciary and insisted that if any fresh petition was filed challenging the March 17 notification, it should be left to the post-March 22 Supreme Court to consider it. “Chief Justice Dogar should not hear any such petition, if filed, and leave it to the new judges,” Qayyum said on the Geo TV’s Capital Talk. Meanwhile, Maulvi Iqbal Haider told Ahmad Noorani of The News that he had filed a petition in the Supreme Court to pre-empt any move to restore the deposed judges without a constitutional amendment after the signing of the Murree Accord. He stated that his plea was that these judges were validly removed under the Nov 3, 2007 PCO, which was endorsed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Iqbal disclosed that a few days prior to the issuance of the March 17 notification, he had filed a fresh application before the Supreme Court, seeking hearing of his pending petition. He said he did this foreseeing that the deposed judges would possibly be restored. He said on March 19, either he would press his last application or move a fresh petition on the issue. Iqbal said he was of the view that the judges could only be restored through a constitutional amendment.
Otherwise, their return to the apex court would be a blatant violation of the Nov 3 PCO and the subsequent Supreme Court verdict, which had ruled that those judges who had not taken oath under the PCO were no more judges and had become past and close transaction. He said every notification issued by the government always contained the reference to some clause and section of the Constitution or law but the March 17 notification through which 11 judges were being restored did not contain any such reference. Meanwhile, another petitioner Shahid Orakzai, who is also known for filing controversial petitions, told the Geo TV that he would file an important petition on March 19 but did not reveal as to what he was going to challenge.
Orakzai informed Geo correspondent Qayyum Siddiqi that he would point out to a conspiracy and raised the question if the federal cabinet was consulted by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani before he sent his advice to the president for the issuance of the March 17 notification. According to an unconfirmed report, a legal mind in the Gilani’s government is the author of this conspiracy.
ISLAMABAD: The Presidency is eying for yet another politically demanding goal, the extension to Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar without a constitutional amendment, but the president’s spokesman asserts that Dogar will retire on March 21. Though constitutional experts including even those who are considered close to Justice Dogar believe that this is impossible without a constitutional amendment, legal minds surrounding President Zardari are considering to achieve this impossible task through a court order.
In the post-October 12, 1999 Constitution, the age for retirement of a Supreme Court judge was 65. However, according to constitutional experts, Musharraf, in his bid to continue with his favourite and handpicked judges for a long time, had increased this age limit from 65 to 68 years in his unconstitutional Legal Framework Order (LFO). During the negotiations for 17th Amendment, the increase in retirement-age of the judges of the apex court was not accepted and it was again fixed at 65 years. Afterwards, a lawyer Maulvi Iqbal Haider, who was known to be close to official circles during the Musharraf-regime, moved a petition in the Supreme Court praying that the retirement-age limit for the apex court judges once extended could not be reduced. The said petition is still pending with the Supreme Court.
Though, constitutional experts SM Zafar and Dr Khalid Ranjha argue that the retirement age could be extended only through a constitutional amendment, senior PPP leader and Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice Begum Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry told The News Thursday that the age limit could be increased through a simple legislation, which could be passed by a simple majority. According to sources in the government, President Zardari’s legal gurus see no way out for continuation in the power corridors if someone other than Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar becomes the Chief Justice. According to these sources, Zardari considers continuation of Justice Dogar as the Chief Justice crucial to get out of present crisis emerging in the wake of the lawyers’ long march.
In case, no unconstitutional step is taken, Justice Dogar will retire on March 21. A minister approached by The News termed the report about the proposal to give extension to Dogar for saving Zardari rule baseless. He said if the government wanted to give extension to Dogar, it would be done because of the competency of the incumbent CJ and not because of saving the rule of Zardari. Senior constitutional expert SM Zafar told The News that there was no ambiguity whatsoever in the retirement age of a Supreme Court judge could only be increased through a constitutional amendment, which needed two-third majority. Senior lawyer Dr Khalid Ranjha told The News “though the age could only be increased through a constitutional amendment but in a country like the one we are living in, anything could be done.” He said media persons and lawyers would condemn it but once the decision was delivered, it would be implemented like many other wrong things. When asked to comment, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told The News there was no question of Dogar getting an extension and he would retire on March 21.
The lawyers’ call for a countrywide strike on January 28 against the government has been deferred for the time being. The lawyers’ National Coordination Committee (NCC) had previously called for a strike at the behest of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Qazi Mohammad Anwar to pressurise the government to implement the Supreme Court’s judgement on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). Some lawyers like Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood had shown their reservations at this call and said that not all the NCC leaders were taken on board before announcing the strike call. The decision to defer the strike has come after the government’s assurance to the SCBA that it will implement the NRO judgement.
There are many aspects to this strike call that leave the mind bewildered. First and foremost is that a review petition on the NRO ruling has been filed by the government, which means that the verdict cannot be considered final until the petition has been dealt with. So, why are the lawyers in such a hurry to implement the verdict of the NRO when the petition is still lying in the court? Surely the lawyers know the law or do they need to be reminded of how the legal system works? As for the implementation of the NRO, time and again the government has assured its full support to the court’s verdict. This can be seen by the reopening of cases against Interior Minister Rehman Malik, amongst others, who have been appearing before the courts in different cities. If the lawyers have a problem with the Swiss case against Zardari, it is not yet clear whether he can be tried while he remains the president. There is also an international dimension to this; the case cannot be reopened as it already stands withdrawn when Malik Qayyum was the Attorney General (AG). The Supreme Court had directed the government to take action against Qayyum for withdrawing the Swiss case against Zardari in his capacity as the AG. One fails to understand why Qayyum is being targeted here when he could not have done this without Musharraf’s say so. There may be no written orders by Musharraf on this issue, but then the generalissimo had not always been a fan of written agreements.
SCBA President Qazi Anwar said that the lawyers “want accountability of all the 8,000 people who had benefitted from the NRO”. Only 34 politicians were NRO beneficiaries out of the 8,041 people and a handful of these politicians belong to the PPP. If the lawyers want an across the board accountability, then they should also be asking for the accountability of MQM chief Altaf Hussein and his party cohorts and not just targeting the PPP.
In this scenario, calling for a strike leads one to believe that the NCC and the SCBA may have other agendas up their sleeves. If they are unhappy about the president not elevating judges as per the chief justice’s wishes, then they need to read what the Constitution says regarding the issue. Apart from that, the government is only following the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Al-Jihad Trust case. Thus the lawyers’ fraternity should not try to twist the arm of the government to do their bidding. The lawyers should not let their newfound ‘power’ go to their heads and jeopardise the democratic system. The judiciary too shall suffer if that happens.
ISLAMABAD (January 19 2010): Renowned lawyer and constitutional expert, Sharifuddin Prizada, has served legal notice on President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Qazi Muhammad Anwar, along with a private TV channel and its anchor, demanding them to withdraw “malicious allegations” uttered against him by Qazi Anwar in the said TV channel’s programme.
Pirzada has served the notice thorough his counsel, Raja Ibarhim Satti Advocate, on Qazi Muhammad Anwar, the TV channel and its anchor Dr Shahid Masood for using “malicious, defamatory and derogatory” language imputations against him on January 16.
“You, Mr Qazi Muhammad Anwar deliberately levelled incorrect and misleading allegation that my client (Sharifuddin Pirzada) along with other senior advocates like Akram Sheikh were indulging in legal-political-judicial intrigue in the Supreme Court bar Library on January 11, as on that day or on any other occasion such discussion has never taken place and on January 11 the topic of our discussion was about a well known book, “Fall and Rise of Islam” by an eminent professor of Harvard University,” the notice said. The host of the TV show did not verify the allegations, it said.
It asked Qazi Muhammad Anwar to withdraw the said allegations within one week, besides asking the channel’s anchor, to express regrets to him forthwith telecasting it in the same programme. Sharifuddin Prizada has made it clear that if the needful was not done, he reserves all the rights and remedies under the law.
This man, Qazi Anwar, seems to have shifting loyalties and ideologies. Here is some information about him from various sources – suggesting that he has moved from PPP to ANP to Imran Khan’s professional lawyers group in the last few years. Perhaps in the next few years, he might turn into Fazlullah or Baituallah Mehsud, extrapolating his own track record:
Qazi Muhammad Anwar, noted constitutional lawyer, President of the Pakistan Bar Council and former senator. A former activist in the Pakistan Peoples Party, he joined the Awami National Party in 1994 in protest against the dismissal of the provincial government by the Federal government. He also served as additional deputy secretary general of the Awami National Party (ANP). He has been active in opposing the recent suspension of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. He has recently rejoined the Awami National Party. He has been elected as Supreme Court Bar Association President in 2009, defeating Barrister Bacha.
Tough competition expected between Qazi, Baacha for SCBA top slot
By Akhtar Amin
PESHAWAR: About 2,200 voters of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) will decide the fate of the two nationalist lawyer leaders from NWFP, Qazi Muhammad Anwar and Barrister Baacha, contesting for the office of president today (Wednesday).
The Malgari Wakeelan, an organisation of nationalist lawyers affiliated to the ruling Awami National Party (ANP), failed to field a consensus candidate. Both the contestants, Barrister Baachaa and Qazi Muhammad Anwar, are affiliated with the Malgari Wakeelan. The position of the SCBA president rotates among the provinces and this time it is the turn of the Frontier province to lead the top bar association of the country. The voting will be held at the Peshawar High Court Bar building and NWFP Bar Council Vice Chairperson Farooq Khan will perform the duties of presiding officer.
The top leadership of Malgari Wakeelan has extended full support to Barrister Baachaa as Abdul Lateef Afridi has embarked upon a full-fledged electioneering for him and has visited lawyers in Quetta, Karachi and Lahore to muster support for him, while Qazi Muhammad Anwar also claims that a major portion of the ANP’s lawyer wing has assured support to him in the election. Qazi Anwar is expected to face tough contest at least in NWFP as Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) President Syed Muhammad Atiq Shah, who is also a prominent leader of the lawyer wing of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in NWFP, has been supporting Barrister Baachaa.
Qazi Anwar has claimed support of the lawyers of Punjab because he enjoys the support of the Hamid Khan group. Out of around 2,200 votes of the SCBA, the share of NWFP lawyers is only 185, which is not even 10 per cent of the total. The Punjab vote would play a decisive role in the election as its share in the SCBA is over 50 per cent.
On Tuesday, the Malgari Wakeelan office-bearers including Peshawar general secretary Mohammad Ayaz, provincial president Ziaullah and others through a press conference announced their support to Qazi Anwar, claiming that the ANP lawyers’ wing was with Qazi Anwar and not Barrister Baacha, and that Abdul Lateef Afridi was supporting him in his individual capacity. On the other hand, PHCBA General Secretary Mohammad Essa Khan said that the Peshawar bar was supporting Barrister Baacha, saying that Baacha’s role was better than that of Qazi Anwar in lawyers’ movement.
He said that Qazi Anwar failed to follow the principle stand of PHCBA regarding boycott of PCO judges’ courts and started to appear before PCO judges. In his defence, Qazi Anwar argues that he did so following the decision of the Pakistan Bar Council.
Qazi Mohammad Anwar was elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association on Wednesday.
According to unofficial results of the elections held for offices of the association, Qazi Anwar got 401 votes in Lahore, 118 in Karachi, 19 in Abbottabad, 25 in Bahawalpur, 32 in Quetta, 133 in Islamabad, 55 in Multan, 43 in Peshawar and five in Sukkur.
His rival Barrister Bachaa bagged 340 votes in Lahore, 73 in Karachi, 11 in Abbottabad, 21 in Bahawalpur, 31 in Quetta, 137 in Islamabad, 26 in Multan and 50 in Peshawar. He did not get any vote in Sukkur.
Talking to newsmen, Qazi Anwar, who belongs to the Professional Group, vowed to keep the lawyers’ movement intact because, he said, there were still many challenges for the nation.
Raja Zulqarnain and Syed Rifaqat Hussain, also belonging to the Professional Group, were elected as secretary and finance secretary, respectively.
Mian Waheed Akhter, Malik Manzoor Hussain and K.A. Wahab were elected as vice presidents for Punjab, the NWFP and Sindh, respectively. Amanullah Kanrani Baloch and Ahsanuddin Sheikh had been elected unopposed as vice president and additional secretary, Balochistan, respectively.
ISLAMABAD: With divided legal fraternity, a rigging complaint against the sitting Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Qazi Anwer’s election is one of the major agenda items for Sunday’s Executive Committee (EC) meeting of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC).
“The rigging complaint against SCBA President Qazi Anwer will be taken up as Barrister Bacha, his election opponent, has challenged the last election of the association,” Chairman EC-PBC Chaudhry Nasrullah Warraich confirmed to The News on Friday.
Warraich maintained that the current issues, such as the pending judges elevations, held-up appointments and a specific group’s attempts to keep the judicial system hostage, would also come up for discussion in the meeting.
Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) is the chairman of the PBC, a statuary body, and its primary mandate is to take decisions on lawyer-related issues, including those involving corruption against practising ones throughout the country. “It is not mandatory for the AGP to attend the meeting.”
With the People’s Lawyers Forum and senior jurists active from the day the strike call was given, the SCBA president Qazi Anwer is under fire from the legal community, particularly those backing the government in one way or the other.
Qazi, on the platform of national coordination committee of the SCBA, had announced a countrywide strike for January 28, 2010 to press the government for implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). The strike was later postponed to February 14, 2010.
“We experienced a sharp division within the lawyers’ community over the strike call,” the EC-PBC chairman admitted. Warraich claimed that the national coordination committee did not have a legal standing, as it was constituted during the movement for the restoration of the judiciary for day-to-day coordination amongst lawyers. “The body was not formed on a permanent basis and it was purely movement-specific. But a group of lawyers is using this body to paralyse the judicial system.” The lawyers from every district and Tehsil contributed equally to the historic movement, which resulted in the restoration of pre-November 3, 2007 judiciary, he said. Qazi Anwer’s strike call and then its postponement on the government’s request has divided the lawyers and damaged their unprecedented unity, Warraich said.
Asked whether the SCBA was not a representative body, he admitted that senior lawyers from all the provinces were its members and it represented them. “But I would like to point out that the SCBA comprises 1,500-1,600 members whereas the PBC represents the whole fraternity of lawyers. One must ask Qazi Anwer whether the SCBA under his leadership has addressed the problems of the association members,” he said.
The PBC, he said, has the mandate to set aside the elections of the SCBA president and other office-bearers if rigging allegations were proved. “The rigging case, you can say, is at the preliminary stage and we have asked Barrister Bacha to submit solid evidence in support of his allegations.”
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.
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.
Lawyers put off strike till Feb 14
By Mudassir Raja
Thursday, 28 Jan, 2010
RAWALPINDI: Lawyers postponed their strike till Feb 14 after the government assured them that the Supreme Court judgment on the National Reconciliation Ordinance would be implemented.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Supreme Court Bar Association president Qazi Mohammad Anwar said the call for a countrywide strike on Thursday had been put on hold after consultations with lawyers’ leaders.
He said the lawyers’ community did not want a confrontation with the government, but reserved the right to protest if the judgment was not implemented.
Qazi Anwar said Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira had assured him that the government would implement the SC judgment in letter and spirit.
He said Mr Kaira had offered to arrange his meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani but he did not want to meet Mr Gilani without other SCBA office-bearers.
He said that Latif Khosa, adviser to the prime minister, also informed him that the government had been working on a plan to implement the SC judgment.
Qazi Anwar said that in his opinion only a notification from the PM House was needed to implement the judgment.
He said that although the track record of the government about keeping the promises was not good, the lawyers would give it some time for the sake of democracy in the hope that the judgment would be implemented in letter and spirit.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-lawyers-call-off-january-28-strike-qs-05
Who is Abdullah ibn Ubayy?
Islamic tradition has labelled him as a Munafiq (hypocrite) and “leader of the Munafiqun. Not unlike ibn Ubayy, Qazi Mohammad Anwar claims sincerity to Pakistan and democracy, but is in fact undermining the very foundations of the country and democracy.
Who is Maulvi Iqbal Haider? Today, Maulvi Iqbal Haider submitted a petition to the Islamabad High Court (established by Pervez Musharraf in a decree on December 14, 2007) preemptively contesting the restoration of the deposed judges via parliament. It’s worth noting that he’s the head of a tiny party, the Awami Himayat Tehreek, formerly named the Pervez Musharraf Himayat Tehreek (Movement for the Support of Pervez Musharraf).
Maulvi Iqbal challenges President Zardari’s electoral eligibility Updated at: 1835 PST, Sunday, January 24, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=96939
Judges’ relatives among pro-CJ protesters: Haider Tuesday, May 08, 2007 http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=7692
ISLAMABAD: Maulvi Iqbal Haider advocate on Monday alleged that close relatives of some judges on the Supreme Court bench were staging demonstrations in support of the ‘suspended’ chief justice outside the court. Haider, who supports the government stance on the presidential reference, stood up during the hearing of the constitutional petition of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry by a larger bench of the Supreme Court, alleging that Acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas had struck off his petition from the cause list with mala fide intention.
On this, presiding judge Justice Javed Iqbal Buttar asked him to show respect to the chief justice and avoid talking in that way. “No application from your side is before us. Therefore, you should take the seat,” he added. Haider submitted that such people were sitting in the larger bench whose close relatives hold demonstrations outside the court in support of the chief justice. Therefore, objection can be raised against this bench.
Justice Butter said, “You should file the application. We will see it.” Maulvi Iqbal Haider pleaded, “What will I do if I go outside to file the application and the court renders verdict?” The presiding judge said, “You mean that we should leave the court.” Haider said, “I should be sent to jail or the court should summon my application and hear it.” Justice Javed Butter said, “We cannot do these two jobs. Several decisions have been pronounced in the country, which need to be reviewed.”
Last-ditch efforts to stop CJ Iftikhar Thursday, March 19, 2009 By Ansar Abbasi http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=21026
ISLAMABAD: Last-ditch efforts are being made to undo the grand victory of the people as some petitions are being filed in the Abdul Hameed Dogar Supreme Court to get the March 17 notification to restore Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry suspended. An extremely-controversial character Maulvi Iqbal Haider, who generally has the reputation of filing dubious petitions on the wishes of latent forces, is preparing a petition seeking the suspension of the March 17 notification.
The first hint of the conspiracy came when former SCBA president Aitzaz Ahsan said on Tuesday he was getting vibes that the restoration of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar and other deposed judges might be challenged. A senior judge of the present Supreme Court, also referred as the Dogar Court, also privately told this correspondent that some negative elements might try to do so. Despite being a PCO judge he, however, warned that any such effort would badly harm Pakistan. There is no clue as to who is trying to push the clock back by recreating the judicial crisis. The reports have even travelled to other members of the legal fraternity, including Athar Minallah, advocate. Till recently, the spokesman of Justice Iftikhar, Minallah said he, too, had been informed that the Dogar Court would possibly become a part of the conspiracy to prevent Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry from getting back his office on March 22.
Justice (retd) Malik Qayyum said he did not know of any conspiracy. Qayyum, who is known to have close contacts with the retiring Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, said all and sundry should accept the restoration of the Nov 2 judiciary and insisted that if any fresh petition was filed challenging the March 17 notification, it should be left to the post-March 22 Supreme Court to consider it. “Chief Justice Dogar should not hear any such petition, if filed, and leave it to the new judges,” Qayyum said on the Geo TV’s Capital Talk. Meanwhile, Maulvi Iqbal Haider told Ahmad Noorani of The News that he had filed a petition in the Supreme Court to pre-empt any move to restore the deposed judges without a constitutional amendment after the signing of the Murree Accord. He stated that his plea was that these judges were validly removed under the Nov 3, 2007 PCO, which was endorsed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Iqbal disclosed that a few days prior to the issuance of the March 17 notification, he had filed a fresh application before the Supreme Court, seeking hearing of his pending petition. He said he did this foreseeing that the deposed judges would possibly be restored. He said on March 19, either he would press his last application or move a fresh petition on the issue. Iqbal said he was of the view that the judges could only be restored through a constitutional amendment.
Otherwise, their return to the apex court would be a blatant violation of the Nov 3 PCO and the subsequent Supreme Court verdict, which had ruled that those judges who had not taken oath under the PCO were no more judges and had become past and close transaction. He said every notification issued by the government always contained the reference to some clause and section of the Constitution or law but the March 17 notification through which 11 judges were being restored did not contain any such reference. Meanwhile, another petitioner Shahid Orakzai, who is also known for filing controversial petitions, told the Geo TV that he would file an important petition on March 19 but did not reveal as to what he was going to challenge.
Orakzai informed Geo correspondent Qayyum Siddiqi that he would point out to a conspiracy and raised the question if the federal cabinet was consulted by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani before he sent his advice to the president for the issuance of the March 17 notification. According to an unconfirmed report, a legal mind in the Gilani’s government is the author of this conspiracy.
Dogar must for Zardari Friday, February 27, 2009 Debate on simple or two-thirds majority; president’s spokesman denies By Muhammad Ahmad Noorani http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=20620
ISLAMABAD: The Presidency is eying for yet another politically demanding goal, the extension to Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar without a constitutional amendment, but the president’s spokesman asserts that Dogar will retire on March 21. Though constitutional experts including even those who are considered close to Justice Dogar believe that this is impossible without a constitutional amendment, legal minds surrounding President Zardari are considering to achieve this impossible task through a court order.
In the post-October 12, 1999 Constitution, the age for retirement of a Supreme Court judge was 65. However, according to constitutional experts, Musharraf, in his bid to continue with his favourite and handpicked judges for a long time, had increased this age limit from 65 to 68 years in his unconstitutional Legal Framework Order (LFO). During the negotiations for 17th Amendment, the increase in retirement-age of the judges of the apex court was not accepted and it was again fixed at 65 years. Afterwards, a lawyer Maulvi Iqbal Haider, who was known to be close to official circles during the Musharraf-regime, moved a petition in the Supreme Court praying that the retirement-age limit for the apex court judges once extended could not be reduced. The said petition is still pending with the Supreme Court.
Though, constitutional experts SM Zafar and Dr Khalid Ranjha argue that the retirement age could be extended only through a constitutional amendment, senior PPP leader and Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice Begum Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry told The News Thursday that the age limit could be increased through a simple legislation, which could be passed by a simple majority. According to sources in the government, President Zardari’s legal gurus see no way out for continuation in the power corridors if someone other than Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar becomes the Chief Justice. According to these sources, Zardari considers continuation of Justice Dogar as the Chief Justice crucial to get out of present crisis emerging in the wake of the lawyers’ long march.
In case, no unconstitutional step is taken, Justice Dogar will retire on March 21. A minister approached by The News termed the report about the proposal to give extension to Dogar for saving Zardari rule baseless. He said if the government wanted to give extension to Dogar, it would be done because of the competency of the incumbent CJ and not because of saving the rule of Zardari. Senior constitutional expert SM Zafar told The News that there was no ambiguity whatsoever in the retirement age of a Supreme Court judge could only be increased through a constitutional amendment, which needed two-third majority. Senior lawyer Dr Khalid Ranjha told The News “though the age could only be increased through a constitutional amendment but in a country like the one we are living in, anything could be done.” He said media persons and lawyers would condemn it but once the decision was delivered, it would be implemented like many other wrong things. When asked to comment, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told The News there was no question of Dogar getting an extension and he would retire on March 21.
Deferred strike
The lawyers’ call for a countrywide strike on January 28 against the government has been deferred for the time being. The lawyers’ National Coordination Committee (NCC) had previously called for a strike at the behest of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Qazi Mohammad Anwar to pressurise the government to implement the Supreme Court’s judgement on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). Some lawyers like Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood had shown their reservations at this call and said that not all the NCC leaders were taken on board before announcing the strike call. The decision to defer the strike has come after the government’s assurance to the SCBA that it will implement the NRO judgement.
There are many aspects to this strike call that leave the mind bewildered. First and foremost is that a review petition on the NRO ruling has been filed by the government, which means that the verdict cannot be considered final until the petition has been dealt with. So, why are the lawyers in such a hurry to implement the verdict of the NRO when the petition is still lying in the court? Surely the lawyers know the law or do they need to be reminded of how the legal system works? As for the implementation of the NRO, time and again the government has assured its full support to the court’s verdict. This can be seen by the reopening of cases against Interior Minister Rehman Malik, amongst others, who have been appearing before the courts in different cities. If the lawyers have a problem with the Swiss case against Zardari, it is not yet clear whether he can be tried while he remains the president. There is also an international dimension to this; the case cannot be reopened as it already stands withdrawn when Malik Qayyum was the Attorney General (AG). The Supreme Court had directed the government to take action against Qayyum for withdrawing the Swiss case against Zardari in his capacity as the AG. One fails to understand why Qayyum is being targeted here when he could not have done this without Musharraf’s say so. There may be no written orders by Musharraf on this issue, but then the generalissimo had not always been a fan of written agreements.
SCBA President Qazi Anwar said that the lawyers “want accountability of all the 8,000 people who had benefitted from the NRO”. Only 34 politicians were NRO beneficiaries out of the 8,041 people and a handful of these politicians belong to the PPP. If the lawyers want an across the board accountability, then they should also be asking for the accountability of MQM chief Altaf Hussein and his party cohorts and not just targeting the PPP.
In this scenario, calling for a strike leads one to believe that the NCC and the SCBA may have other agendas up their sleeves. If they are unhappy about the president not elevating judges as per the chief justice’s wishes, then they need to read what the Constitution says regarding the issue. Apart from that, the government is only following the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Al-Jihad Trust case. Thus the lawyers’ fraternity should not try to twist the arm of the government to do their bidding. The lawyers should not let their newfound ‘power’ go to their heads and jeopardise the democratic system. The judiciary too shall suffer if that happens.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\01\28\story_28-1-2010_pg3_1
does anyone know qazi anwar ? i have heard he is affiliated with jamati-islami . is it correct ? can anyone clarify .
Sharifuddin Pirzada serves legal notice on SCBA President, TV anchor
http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=1010192&currPageNo=4&query=&search=&term=&supDate=
RECORDER REPORT
ISLAMABAD (January 19 2010): Renowned lawyer and constitutional expert, Sharifuddin Prizada, has served legal notice on President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Qazi Muhammad Anwar, along with a private TV channel and its anchor, demanding them to withdraw “malicious allegations” uttered against him by Qazi Anwar in the said TV channel’s programme.
Pirzada has served the notice thorough his counsel, Raja Ibarhim Satti Advocate, on Qazi Muhammad Anwar, the TV channel and its anchor Dr Shahid Masood for using “malicious, defamatory and derogatory” language imputations against him on January 16.
“You, Mr Qazi Muhammad Anwar deliberately levelled incorrect and misleading allegation that my client (Sharifuddin Pirzada) along with other senior advocates like Akram Sheikh were indulging in legal-political-judicial intrigue in the Supreme Court bar Library on January 11, as on that day or on any other occasion such discussion has never taken place and on January 11 the topic of our discussion was about a well known book, “Fall and Rise of Islam” by an eminent professor of Harvard University,” the notice said. The host of the TV show did not verify the allegations, it said.
It asked Qazi Muhammad Anwar to withdraw the said allegations within one week, besides asking the channel’s anchor, to express regrets to him forthwith telecasting it in the same programme. Sharifuddin Prizada has made it clear that if the needful was not done, he reserves all the rights and remedies under the law.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2010
This man, Qazi Anwar, seems to have shifting loyalties and ideologies. Here is some information about him from various sources – suggesting that he has moved from PPP to ANP to Imran Khan’s professional lawyers group in the last few years. Perhaps in the next few years, he might turn into Fazlullah or Baituallah Mehsud, extrapolating his own track record:
Qazi Muhammad Anwar, noted constitutional lawyer, President of the Pakistan Bar Council and former senator. A former activist in the Pakistan Peoples Party, he joined the Awami National Party in 1994 in protest against the dismissal of the provincial government by the Federal government. He also served as additional deputy secretary general of the Awami National Party (ANP). He has been active in opposing the recent suspension of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. He has recently rejoined the Awami National Party. He has been elected as Supreme Court Bar Association President in 2009, defeating Barrister Bacha.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qazi_Anwar
Tough competition expected between Qazi, Baacha for SCBA top slot
By Akhtar Amin
PESHAWAR: About 2,200 voters of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) will decide the fate of the two nationalist lawyer leaders from NWFP, Qazi Muhammad Anwar and Barrister Baacha, contesting for the office of president today (Wednesday).
The Malgari Wakeelan, an organisation of nationalist lawyers affiliated to the ruling Awami National Party (ANP), failed to field a consensus candidate. Both the contestants, Barrister Baachaa and Qazi Muhammad Anwar, are affiliated with the Malgari Wakeelan. The position of the SCBA president rotates among the provinces and this time it is the turn of the Frontier province to lead the top bar association of the country. The voting will be held at the Peshawar High Court Bar building and NWFP Bar Council Vice Chairperson Farooq Khan will perform the duties of presiding officer.
The top leadership of Malgari Wakeelan has extended full support to Barrister Baachaa as Abdul Lateef Afridi has embarked upon a full-fledged electioneering for him and has visited lawyers in Quetta, Karachi and Lahore to muster support for him, while Qazi Muhammad Anwar also claims that a major portion of the ANP’s lawyer wing has assured support to him in the election. Qazi Anwar is expected to face tough contest at least in NWFP as Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) President Syed Muhammad Atiq Shah, who is also a prominent leader of the lawyer wing of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in NWFP, has been supporting Barrister Baachaa.
Qazi Anwar has claimed support of the lawyers of Punjab because he enjoys the support of the Hamid Khan group. Out of around 2,200 votes of the SCBA, the share of NWFP lawyers is only 185, which is not even 10 per cent of the total. The Punjab vote would play a decisive role in the election as its share in the SCBA is over 50 per cent.
On Tuesday, the Malgari Wakeelan office-bearers including Peshawar general secretary Mohammad Ayaz, provincial president Ziaullah and others through a press conference announced their support to Qazi Anwar, claiming that the ANP lawyers’ wing was with Qazi Anwar and not Barrister Baacha, and that Abdul Lateef Afridi was supporting him in his individual capacity. On the other hand, PHCBA General Secretary Mohammad Essa Khan said that the Peshawar bar was supporting Barrister Baacha, saying that Baacha’s role was better than that of Qazi Anwar in lawyers’ movement.
He said that Qazi Anwar failed to follow the principle stand of PHCBA regarding boycott of PCO judges’ courts and started to appear before PCO judges. In his defence, Qazi Anwar argues that he did so following the decision of the Pakistan Bar Council.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\10\28\story_28-10-2009_pg7_35
….
Qazi Mohammad Anwar was elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association on Wednesday.
According to unofficial results of the elections held for offices of the association, Qazi Anwar got 401 votes in Lahore, 118 in Karachi, 19 in Abbottabad, 25 in Bahawalpur, 32 in Quetta, 133 in Islamabad, 55 in Multan, 43 in Peshawar and five in Sukkur.
His rival Barrister Bachaa bagged 340 votes in Lahore, 73 in Karachi, 11 in Abbottabad, 21 in Bahawalpur, 31 in Quetta, 137 in Islamabad, 26 in Multan and 50 in Peshawar. He did not get any vote in Sukkur.
Talking to newsmen, Qazi Anwar, who belongs to the Professional Group, vowed to keep the lawyers’ movement intact because, he said, there were still many challenges for the nation.
Raja Zulqarnain and Syed Rifaqat Hussain, also belonging to the Professional Group, were elected as secretary and finance secretary, respectively.
Mian Waheed Akhter, Malik Manzoor Hussain and K.A. Wahab were elected as vice presidents for Punjab, the NWFP and Sindh, respectively. Amanullah Kanrani Baloch and Ahsanuddin Sheikh had been elected unopposed as vice president and additional secretary, Balochistan, respectively.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/12-qazi+anwar+elected+scba+president–bi-10
Qazi Anwer facing rigging charges Saturday, January 30, 2010 By Dilshad Azeem
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=221513
ISLAMABAD: With divided legal fraternity, a rigging complaint against the sitting Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Qazi Anwer’s election is one of the major agenda items for Sunday’s Executive Committee (EC) meeting of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC).
“The rigging complaint against SCBA President Qazi Anwer will be taken up as Barrister Bacha, his election opponent, has challenged the last election of the association,” Chairman EC-PBC Chaudhry Nasrullah Warraich confirmed to The News on Friday.
Warraich maintained that the current issues, such as the pending judges elevations, held-up appointments and a specific group’s attempts to keep the judicial system hostage, would also come up for discussion in the meeting.
Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) is the chairman of the PBC, a statuary body, and its primary mandate is to take decisions on lawyer-related issues, including those involving corruption against practising ones throughout the country. “It is not mandatory for the AGP to attend the meeting.”
With the People’s Lawyers Forum and senior jurists active from the day the strike call was given, the SCBA president Qazi Anwer is under fire from the legal community, particularly those backing the government in one way or the other.
Qazi, on the platform of national coordination committee of the SCBA, had announced a countrywide strike for January 28, 2010 to press the government for implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). The strike was later postponed to February 14, 2010.
“We experienced a sharp division within the lawyers’ community over the strike call,” the EC-PBC chairman admitted. Warraich claimed that the national coordination committee did not have a legal standing, as it was constituted during the movement for the restoration of the judiciary for day-to-day coordination amongst lawyers. “The body was not formed on a permanent basis and it was purely movement-specific. But a group of lawyers is using this body to paralyse the judicial system.” The lawyers from every district and Tehsil contributed equally to the historic movement, which resulted in the restoration of pre-November 3, 2007 judiciary, he said. Qazi Anwer’s strike call and then its postponement on the government’s request has divided the lawyers and damaged their unprecedented unity, Warraich said.
Asked whether the SCBA was not a representative body, he admitted that senior lawyers from all the provinces were its members and it represented them. “But I would like to point out that the SCBA comprises 1,500-1,600 members whereas the PBC represents the whole fraternity of lawyers. One must ask Qazi Anwer whether the SCBA under his leadership has addressed the problems of the association members,” he said.
The PBC, he said, has the mandate to set aside the elections of the SCBA president and other office-bearers if rigging allegations were proved. “The rigging case, you can say, is at the preliminary stage and we have asked Barrister Bacha to submit solid evidence in support of his allegations.”
Asadullah Ghalib on Lawyers’ strike:
PBC approached for Qazi Anwar’s ineligibility Updated at: 1445 PST, Monday, February 01, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=97613
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.
PBC issues notice to Qazi Anwar Tuesday, February 02, 2010 by Sohail Khan
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=27023
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.