He is the most hated judge in Pakistan’s history. He is the one who, in particular, betrayed Balochistan.

http://criticalppp.com/archives/49479

CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry has not conducted himself as a CJ, he has played to the gallery

’پاکستان سپریم کورٹ نے تو حد کردی‘
آخری وقت اشاعت: ہفتہ 23 جون 2012 ,‭ 15:51 GMT 20:51 PST

بھارتی سپریم کورٹ کے ریٹائرڈ جج جسٹس مرکھنڈے کاٹجو نے کہا ہے کہ پاکستان کی سپریم کورٹ نے عوام کو خوش کرنے کے چکر میں وزیر اعظم کو نااہل قرار دے کی اپنی آئینی حددو کو پار کیا ہے۔
بی بی سی اردو کے ساتھ ایک انٹرویو میں انہوں نے کہا عدلیہ کو ہمیشہ تحمل کا مظاہرہ کرنا چاہیے۔سننے کے لیے کلک کریں

http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/multimedia/2012/06/120623_indian_sc_judge_ra.shtml

Pakistani Supreme Court has gone overboard – by Justice Markandey Katju (Supreme Court of India)

http://criticalppp.com/archives/79330

Please, not again
By Saroop Ijaz
Published: June 23, 2012

The writer is a lawyer and partner at Ijaz and Ijaz Co in Lahore saroop.ijaz@tribune.com.pk
It is always slightly discomforting when one is deprived of a metaphor or an agreed upon symbol. ‘Dictatorship’ — of the Pakistani variety — has been defined over the years and now we have the definition down cold, it is almost an intuition now, for e.g., it is khaki in colour, comes from the GHQ etc. However, in the past few days, the term, ‘judicial dictatorship’ is making the rare appearance here and there. This is, admittedly, an awkward term and also perhaps, inaccurate since it seems to suggest that judiciary as a collective is becoming dictatorial. Over the past four years, the authority and decorum of all courts in Pakistan except the Supreme Court has seen tremendous erosion, with lawyers routinely beating judges up in civil courts and using ‘non-parliamentary’ language in the High Courts. There is no point in euphemism now, hence somewhat more precise would be the even more clumsy phrase, ‘dictatorship of the Supreme Court’ or some permutation thereof.
The Pakistan Supreme Court has sent an elected prime minister home. This in itself is disturbing, however, permissible it may be under some circumstances. What is infinitely more worrying is the fact that the Supreme Court did not feel itself constrained by the procedure of law. The argument that the order of the Speaker cannot overrule the Court is a very decent one, yet does not explain why the Court ignored the clear provisions of the Constitution to send the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan. There is also the issue of the three-member bench making a mockery of the seven-member bench. However, there is a vaguely linear progression to all of this. The Supreme Court terminated the employment of “PCO” judges without reference to the Supreme Judicial Council, which was allowed to go unexamined. More recently, when memberships of members of parliament were suspended for dual nationality, again without reference to the Election Commission of Pakistan, not enough noise was created. Demagogy has a tendency of being incremental sometimes; they have tested the waters and now found it appropriate for a splash. It is likely to get worse now, it always does.
Even now there is a curious reluctance to unequivocally condemn, or mildly speaking, criticise the judgment of the Supreme Court. Yousaf Raza Gilani and his maladministration is not the issue here, the issue is considerably more fundamental, namely the right of the people to elect their representatives and also to send them home. The Supreme Court does not represent the will of the people and the Court repeatedly saying so to the contrary would not change that. Let me also say this about the law of contempt, if the Court in fact does believe that it represents the will of the people then it will have to make its peace with the fact, that people talk and also talk back.
The problem with the perception of selective justice is that it compromises all justice. The contempt proceedings against the corps commander at the time of November, 2007 emergency have not really taken off, the IG FC has still not appeared in Court, the Asghar Khan petition is still pending, the case of Dr Arsalan Iftikhar is not being heard daily (the cynic might also raise the issue of the timing of the PM’s disqualification as a diversionary tactic from the focus on the fantastic entrepreneurial success of Dr Arsalan Iftikhar). Remaining on timing, does anyone else find it strange that the arrest warrants of one of the designated candidates for prime minister are issued as soon as his name is proposed? It does push the ordinary serendipity of coincidence a bit. None of this maybe personal, however, it certainly gives that impression.
Leo Tolstoy begins Anna Karenina with: “Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” It is painfully ironic to see how the Supreme Court has gone the full circle and joined the ranks of the previous “Happy families” of Pakistan. From sending judges of the superior courts to now sending the prime minister of Pakistan home. The anger at the slightest bit of criticism by the media resembles our gallant masters of the past. The impatience and not feeling the need to give reasons, the short orders, grand poetic epitaphs and ‘because I say so’ arm-waving and desk thumping. There is a visual image of a few days ago, which does concentrate into a microcosm the similarity. It was a video on some television channel of the Pemra chairman standing with his hands almost tied in front like an orderly, a man obviously broken and being humiliated in a room filled with judges either reclining or leaning in with contempt. I wonder nobody, not one judge thought it appropriate to ask the chief justice to allow the man a chair as it was not a court proceeding but an administrative meeting convened to watch on a projector screen the leaked video of Malik Riaz. (The Pemra chairman has since suffered a heart attack; I restrain myself from speculating on correlation, although it would be good speculation). The parallel video image summoned to mind is that of my Lord, the chief justice resisting with genuine bravado while being bullied by Musharraf and his cronies to resign and that of My Lord being pushed and shoved by contemptuous and contemptible foot soldiers of Musharraf. The moral texture of both images has unavoidable similarities. I was repelled then and I don’t like it now.
My Lords probably are driven by the best of motivations and believe them to be the saviours who would rid us from the corrupt, incompetent government. Firstly, My Lords are not vested with the power to do so. Secondly and more significantly, we appreciate the concern but no, thanks anyways. We will be glad if we are allowed to exercise our right of making our own mistakes. My Lords have seen Musharraf and his arrogance up close and personal and it is with utmost deference I quote Habib Jalib “Jo shakhs tum se pehle yahan takht nasheen tha/ Usko bhi Khuda hone pe itna hi yaqeen tha” (“The person occupying the throne before you was equally convinced of his divinity”).

Published In The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2012.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/398189/please-not-again/

Leaders of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party believe that the allegations of corruption levelled against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s son have some link to the Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Arsalan Iftikhar, the son of the Chief

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Justice, has been accused of receiving payments of over Rs. 342 million from property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain to influence cases in the apex court.
The tycoon has acknowledged making the payments in a statement submitted to the Supreme Court, which directed authorities to take action against Iftikhar and Hussain.

“Since the Chief Justice’s son case surfaced, the case to disqualify the Prime Minister was suddenly taken up by the Supreme Court and we had the decision regarding Gilani’s disqualification,” senior PPP leader Usman Salim Malik told PTI.

A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice yesterday disqualified Gilani as a member of parliament due to his conviction of contempt for refusing to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

The apex court also overruled the National Assembly Speaker’s decision not to disqualify Gilani following his conviction in April.

Malik said after the corruption case involving the Chief Justice’s son, it seemed as if the apex court was in a hurry to “punish” Gilani.

“As the Speaker’s ruling cannot be challenged at any forum, the court’s decision leaves several questions unanswered. Only time will reveal the real motive behind the decision of the bench led by the Chief Justice in Gilani’s case,” he said.

“It is a biased decision as the courts have always targeted PPP governments. We reject this verdict and the masses will give a befitting reply to it in the next election,” Malik said.

PPP secretary general Jehangir Badar said it was not the first time that such a decision had been given against a PPP leader by the judiciary.

He said since the corruption allegations against Iftikhar came to the limelight, the PPP was expecting something “unusual”.

Badar said: “And the inevitable happened.”

He added: “Conspiracies had been hatched against the PPP since it came to power in 2008. PPP workers are dejected and disappointed over the apex court’s decision but they will continue their struggle to strengthen democracy.”

Badar said the PPP could organise countrywide protests against the “unfair and biased” verdict but it would show restraint for the sake of democracy.

“We do not want a clash of institutions,” he said.

Malik contended that the judiciary had given nine years to military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who violated the constitution, but never allowed PPP governments to complete their terms.

“There are different standards of justice for the Sharif brothers (PML-N leaders Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif) and the Bhuttos. The judiciary in the past restored the Sharifs while it sent the PPP Prime Minister packing,” said another PPP leader who did not want to be named.

Gilani’s special assistant Chaudhry Aslam Gill said the apex court had already made up its mind to send the premier home.

“No legal arguments have any value when a judge has already made up his mind in a case,” he said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Pakistan/Gilani-s-disqualification-linked-to-CJ-s-son-case-PPP-leaders/Article1-875387.aspx

Gulf News

Pakistan Supreme Court goes beyond the law
Supreme Court’s pursuit of Gilani has a strong poltical element
Gulf NewsPublished: 00:00 June 21, 2012
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Politics in Pakistan was flung into confusion when the Supreme Court disqualified the sitting Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani from public office, thanks to Gilani having “flouted, disregarded and disobeyed the court order” that required Gilani to ask the Swiss authorities to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The Supreme Court is headed by the politically active Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry who gained huge public profile by challenging Pakistan’s previous head of state, the military dictator Pervez Musharraf. Under the present elected government, Chaudhry has continued to take the Supreme Court beyond its basic legal remit and has plunged it into the heart of day-to-day politics. There can be no doubt that Chaudhry was making a political statement when he read out the court’s order that “Gilani is disqualified from membership of parliament. He has also ceased to be the prime minister of Pakistan”.
Of course, no one is above the law and this applies to the prime minister and the president, as it does to any other citizen of the country. It is well known that there have been accusations of corruption swirling around Zardari for years, Long before he took office, dating back to the time when his wife late Benazir Bhutto was the prime minister, and these should be answered with facts, rather than pleas of immunity to avoid trial.
But that said, any case brought against any public official has to be legally sound and should exclude any political element. It is a problem that the Supreme Court’s pursuit of Gilani has not been about a straight accusation of corruption, such as looking at misuse of office or money or favours received. Instead, the court has focused on where Gilani’s loyalty should lie: either to the law and Supreme Court (according to the Chief Justice), or to the President and party leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, which has a majority in the National Assembly. This apparent legal issue has a strong political element.

http://gulfnews.com/opinions/editorials/pakistan-supreme-court-goes-beyond-the-law-1.1038312

Pak Chief Justice resorts to judicial vendetta against PM Gilani

Tuesday, June 19, 2012 – 19:15
By: Vimal Sumbly
No Prime Minister in Pakistan, for that matter not even a democratically elected government, has completed five year term in office. However, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was about to, but for the disqualification by the Pakistan Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry for his conviction on April 26 last in a contempt of court case, today.

Prima facie the harsh order appears to have been provoked by the recent allegations against Iftikhar Chuadhry’s son Arsalan Chaudhry leveled by a leading Pakistani businessman Malik Riaz Hussain that he had paid Rs 400 million to him (Arsalan). Hussain is considered to be very close to President Asif Zardari.

This has once again reaffirmed the belief that all democratically elected governments in Pakistan are jinxed and these have to end in a coup. However, this time the coup was not staged by the army, but by the judiciary and that too for personal reasons and vengeance.

A three judge bench of the Pakistan Supreme Court headed by the CJ Chaudhry disqualified Gilani from being the Prime Minister because he had been convicted for contempt of court on April 26. However, the Speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly, Fehmida Mirza had ruled that conviction did not debar Gilani from being the member of the PNA or the Prime Minister. Her ruling was passed by the PNA on June 14 and now it has been overruled by the SC.

However, the hyperactive SC and at that the Chief Justice pursued with the case and in an obvious overreach disqualified him today much to the disappointment across the subcontinent as how a democratically elected Prime Minister was removed in a coup of sorts. The protests against the removal have gone viral with people registering their protest on Twitter and Facebook, with journalist Nadeem Pracha tweeting, “Chaudhry d’état”, while alluding to coup d’état.

Arsalan case
On June 12 Malik Hussain, twelfth richest Pakistani in the world, told the media that he had paid Rs 400 million to Arsalan. However, he did not mention for what. When the revelations came, Iftikhar took suo motto notice and started hearing the case. However, on some saner advice he later recused himself from the case. At the same time he defended himself claiming that he did not own a car or a house and was not aware what business his son did.

Hussain revealed that his son-in-law, Salman Khan, who lives in London, had paid the money to Arsalan and also been host to him during his trips there. Arsalan has agreed that he had accepted Salman’s hospitality in London. Finding himself in such a defensive situation Iftikhar Chaudhry hit back so hard at the government and in the process has undermined the institution of the Prime Minister as well as the Pakistan National Assembly.

Gilani’s case
Gilani was convicted for the contempt of court for his alleged failure to reopen the corruption cases against the President Asif Zardari and his alleged Swiss bank accounts. Actually issue goes back to the era of President Pervez Musharaf who had granted general graft-amnesty to Zardari and 8000 others. However, the Supreme Court annulled the amnesty in 2009, with Zardari being the obvious target, asking the Prime Minister to probe Zardari. Prime Minister had a valid point that Zardari being the President enjoyed immunity, an argument overruled by the SC.

Judicial overreach
In obvious clash of personal interests the Pakistan Chief Justice has only tried to undermine the authority of the Pakistan National Assembly and the Prime Minister which is indeed very bad for the democracy there. Iftikhar Chaudhry has done to the Pakistani democracy in black robes what army generals used to do in uniform. Iftikhar Chaudhry has not just misused his power, he has abused it. He has betrayed and defied the meaning of justice itself in pure self interest and personal vengeance with judicial vendetta.

Source:
Punjab Newsline Network

Hey @Samad

You are my hero

http://pakistanblogzine.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/my-hero-is-samad-khurram/

Say hello to your hero Iftikhar Mental.

LUBP’s herod #RajaRental Raja Pervez Ashraf – Many years of excellent work as minister for power means elevation to bigger role in Pakistan.

Raja Pervez Ashraf’s first act as IT Minister was to ban twitter. Wonder what his first action as PM might be.

Hope you will think again before writing against an honest and God fearing, true Muslim judge.

Hira is #IftikharMental’s sister Everyone is ordered to attend #HiraKiDholki. ordered by Pakistan’s top judge

Check this poem out on IftikharMental;

http://twitpic.com/9z15le/full

Nadeem F. Paracha ‏@NadeemfParacha
Ifti Mental, gentle to Mian Sentimental, parental to Immy Accidental; and Media Judgmental, losing dental, flatulence monumental.

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