The Supreme Court was on Thursday urged to come to the rescue of its chief justice like the army had when its chief, General Pervez Musharraf, was sacked in October 1999.

“I will show you how institutions react when their heads are removed illegally. This court must show the same reaction to save the chief justice,” submitted Aitzaz Ahsan while pleading the case of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

“The reaction of institutions must be legal and constitutional,” observed Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, the head of a 13-member full court hearing the CJP’s petition challenging the presidential reference against him. Read the rest of this entry »

President General Pervez Musharraf Thursday said media is a powerful tool of accountability and its role is extremely important for portraying the positive image of the country.

He was addressing a joint gathering of the officers of Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy at Air Headquarters, Islamabad.

The President said that the freedom of media is no doubt essential but it is also the responsibility of media not to create despondency among the masses.

He said that the media should highlight only the issues of national importance and should not try to aggravate the negative issues.
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At no time in the country’s history was judiciary presented such an opportunity to regain its prestige that it has lost over decades by decisions that favoured usurpers and by generally siding with a predatory ruling elite. The verdicts that legitimised military rulers not only derailed democracy but also led to the reduction of the courts’ own authority. Both civil and military rulers subsequently took actions to further turn the judiciary into a handmaiden. Civilian rulers packed courts, appointed confidants to key positions and sidelined independent judges. Two military rulers required judges to take fresh oath under PCO to get rid of those considered meddlesome or unreliable. Read the rest of this entry »

The People’s Democracy Institute of the Shaheed Bhutto Foundation filed a constitutional petition on Wednesday in the Supreme Court saying that the public announcement by General Pervez Musharraf on June 9 to withdraw the June 4 amendments to the PEMRA Ordinance had still not been implemented and it was a mere a public relations exercise aimed at buying time and not an honest declaration of intent. “The June 4 amendments that still held the field be declared unconstitutional,” it said.
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A fresh new initiative called CRDP has been launched by Pakistani Americans who want to help convince the US decision makers to aid in the demilitarization of Pakistani politics.

The Coalition For Restoration Of Democracy In Pakistan plans to hold rallies and discussion groups across the US to raise awareness to help bring democracy in Pakistan, they plan to reach out to Senators and House representatives in each State and congressional district and also engage the media, Human Right groups and other relevant professional organizations to bring this important issue in Pakistan to the forefront and hopefully help restore democracy in Pakistan
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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.

A group of Pakistanis have started an online petition to generate signatures of people who feel that Altaf Hussian should be extradited out of the United Kingdom on charges of running a terrorist organization in Pakistan while he himself languishes in the UK.

Imran Khan is presently in the UK discussing the case with the lawyers and making sure that enough preparations are made so that there are no leak holes allowing Altaf Hussain an opportunity to sneak out unharmed.

If you feel passionately about the cause read the entire draft and sign it here
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There’s plenty of speculation as to why he was removed. Here is another take on it: he was about to take suo moto notice of the KSE crash in 2005 with notices issuing to among others the PM. What a can of worms that might have opened.

Buddget speech of Minister of State for Finance in National Assembly
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