Federal Law Minister Wasi Zaffar has said that a new reference has been prepared against Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Confirming that a new reference was prepared against the CJP Justice Iftikhar, Wasi Zaffar said the new reference would be filed in the Supreme Court keeping in view the future situation and appropriate time.

The new reference is prepared on the basis of the post-presidential reference activities of the CJP and it also includes arguments on the basis of the three affidavits submitted by the government in the Supreme Court.

The consultation with the government counsels about the new reference is underway, he said.

It seems to me that the government is anticipating it may be defeated in the supreme court and so is readying its armory. If they do lose and then file another reference, the SJC would be wrong to entertain it on the basis that they should have made the “new” allegations (those that are new are another matter) part of the first reference. It is an abuse of the tribunal’s process to allow them to have another bite of the cherry and if the SJC doesn’t resist it then the SC might well block it.