Ruling to Reinstate Judge Blow to Pakistani President – Afghan Agency

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kabul, 20 July: The Supreme Court, the top judicial body in Pakistan, Friday reinstated Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, bringing an end to the four month-long tussle between the lawyer community and the government in that country.

Justice Chaudhry, the top judge, was suspended by President Pervez Musharraf in early March on charges of misuse of authority.

His suspension touched off angry protests by the lawyer community fully backed by the Pakistani opposition parties and a large number of common citizens across the country.

At one point, it seemed that President Musharraf would impose emergency rule in the country in face of the countrywide protests by lawyers and their supporters.

However, the beleaguered Pakistani President, whose government is already buffeted by rising militancy and increasing incidents of terrorism, had finally agreed to withdraw some charges filed against the CJ.

The fresh development in Pakistan is seen as a serious blow to the authority of President Pervez Musharraf. His government had already said that it would respect the court’s decision.

During Friday’s proceedings, 10 of the 13 members of the court hearing the case, decided in favour of quashing all charges against Chief Justice Chaudhry and termed the presidential move as illegal.

The judgment, delivered by Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, said the reference had been set aside and the Chief Justice had been restored.

Large number of lawyers, awaiting the decision outside the courtroom, shouted slogans in favour of Justice Chaudhry and against President Musharraf.

Lawyer of the reinstated Chief Justice Aitezaz Ahsan told reporters in the court’s premises that his client had been restored and “it is a victory of for the entire Pakistani nation”.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring South Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.