Wikis
| Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry افتخار محمد چودھری |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 22 March 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Abdul Hameed Dogar |
| In office 30 June 2005 – 3 November 2007 (deposed Nov 3, 2007 - Mar 22, 2009) |
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| Preceded by | Nazim Hussain Siddiqui |
| Succeeded by | Abdul Hameed Dogar (De facto) |
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Justice Supreme Court
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| In office February 4, 2000 – June 29, 2005 |
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| Nominated by | Mohammad Rafiq Tarar |
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Chief Justice Balochistan High Court
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| In office April 22, 1999 – February 3, 2000 |
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| Nominated by | Mohammad Rafiq Tarar |
| Preceded by | Amirul Mulk |
| Succeeded by | Javaid Iqbal |
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Justice Balochistan High Court
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| In office November 6, 1990 – April 21, 1999 |
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| Born | 12 December 1948 Quetta, Pakistan |
| Nationality |  Pakistani |
| Religion | Islam |
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (Urdu: افتخار محمد چودھری) (born 12 December 1948 in Quetta) is the current Chief Justice of Pakistan. He was appointed as Chief Justice by Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on May 7, 2005.[1]. He was suspended by President General Musharraf on March 9, 2007, when he refused to oblige Musharraf by refusing to resign. After having been elected as President for second term by the Parliament, Musharraf in November 2007 pre-empted an impending court decision against his re-election and suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency.[2] Justice Chaudhry convened a seven-member bench which issued an interim order against this action.[3]
In March 2009, the Lawyers supported by various political parties started a decisive movement to reinstate Chaudhry Iftikhar and other deposed Judges. A long march from all over the country was declared soon after. Finally, the government reinstated Chaudhry Iftikhar and other deposed Judges on 16 March 2009 through an executive order by the President of Pakistan[4][5].
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Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was born at 12 December 1948 in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Chaudhry belongs to the Ghorewaha clan of Muslim Rajputs, his family originally hailing from Faislabad.
Chaudhry has a Bachelors in Arts and Bachelors in Law (LLB) from Jamshoro-Sindh.[6]. He joined the bar in 1974. Later, he was enrolled as Advocate of the High Court in 1976 and as an Advocate of the Supreme Court in 1985.[6]. In 1989 he was appointed as Advocate General, Balochistan.[6]. He was elevated as Additional Judge, Balochistan High Court on 6 November 1990 until 21 April 1999.[6]. On April 22, 1999 he became Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court. Besides remaining as Judge of High Court, he discharged duties as Banking Judge, Judge Special Court for Speedy Trials, Judge Customs Appellate Courts as well as Company Judge. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also remained President of High Court Bar Association, Quetta, and was elected twice as Member of the Bar Council. In 1992 he was appointed as Chairman of Balochistan Local Council Election Authority and thereafter for second term in 1998. He also worked as Chairman, Provincial Review Board for the province of Balochistan and was twice appointed as Chairman of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society, Balochistan.[6].
On February 4, 2000 he was nominated Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan. On June 30, 2005 he became the Chief Justice of Pakistan.[6]. At present, Justice Iftikhar is also functioning as Chairman, Enrollment Committee of Pakistan Bar Council and as Chairman, Supreme Court Building Committee.[6]
On March 9, 2007, Chaudhry was suspended by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf also filed a Presidential reference against Chaudhry for misconduct.
The suspension of Chaudhry was the first time in the 60-year history of the Pakistani Supreme Court that a Chief Justice was suspended. There were innumerable complaints against Chief Justice Chaudhry for violating the norms of judicial propriety, corruption,seeking favours and misbehaving with senior lawyers. He was also accused of interfering in the working of the executive branch.
After his suspension, there was unrest in the country with regard to the validity of the allegations against Chaudhry, as well as doubt as to whether Musharraf technically had the power to suspend the Chief Justice under the circumstances.[7]
On May 5, 2007, Chaudhry with his counsel and politician friend Atizaz Ahsan, who is also the party member of PPP, traveled from Islamabad to Lahore to address the Lahore High Court Bar Association. Demonstrations of support along the route slowed his motorcade to the point that it took him 25 hours to reach the dinner the Association was holding in his honor.[8] Demonstrators chanted slogans supporting Chaudhry and demanding Musharraf to step down. In his highly politically motivated speech he criticized dictatorship and emphasized the importance of the rule of law thereby politicizing the office of Chief Justice for the first time in 60 years history of Pakistan to such levels.[9]
On July 20, 2007, Chaudhry was reinstated to his position as Chief Justice in a ruling by the thirteen-member bench of Pakistani Supreme Court headed by Justice Khalil ur Rehman Ramday. He was represented by Aitzaz Ahsan, Shahid Saeed, Gohar Khan and Nadeem Ahmed [PLD 2007 SC 578] against 16 senior lawyers representing the Federation. The ruling combined 25 constitutional petitions filed by various parties, but referred most of the issues raised by the 24 petitions not filed by Chaudhry himself to lower courts for extended adjudication. All thirteen of the sitting justices agreed that Musharraf's action had been illegal, and ten of the thirteen ordered Chaudhry was to be reinstated and that he "shall be deemed to be holding the said office and shall always be deemed to have been so holding the same."
On Saturday, Nov 3, 2007, General Pervez Musharraf, who was the President and Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan at the time, declared a state of emergency and suspended the nation's constitution and parliament at the same time. The declaration accused the judges of violating article 209 of the Constitution of 1973.[10].
Further, according to the constitution, the state of emergency only suspends certain fundamental rights of citizens and all other structures and functions of the state remain functioning as normal, but through this proclamation the government had suspended the constitution itself in accordance with Supreme Court' decision rendered in Zafar Ali Shah's case and issued a provisional constitution order (PCO) in its place. Such an action was considered legal by Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in the aforesaid case.
After the imposition of emergency and suspension of constitution, Chaudhry constituted an eight-member bench of Supreme Court judges duly headed by himself, and in utter violation of Zafar Ali Shah's case immediately quashed the provisional constitution order, declaration of emergency and the suspension of the constitution, and ordered all civil and military personnel to ignore the order. He also ordered all the chief justices of high courts and judges of the Supreme Court and High Court not to take oath under the PCO whereas he himself had taken oath under a similar PCO earlier.
On 15 November Geo News reported that Chaudhry had ordered the Islamabad Inspector General of Police to take action against his and his family’s house arrest and their possible relocation to Quetta. According to the channel, Chaudhry held the interior secretary, the commissioner, the deputy commissioner and the assistant commissioner responsible for his house arrest. He said he was still the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the official residence was his by right.[11]
Just after general elections in February, on March 24, 2008, on his first day of premiership the Pakistani PM Yousaf Raza Gillani ordered Chaudhry's release from house arrest.[12][13] However, he did not restore the chief justice. Later three agreements for the restoration of the judges were signed by Asif Ali Zardari, the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Nawaz Sharif, the chairman of the PML-N, the chief opposition party. But the chief justice remained unrestored. This led to a revival of the lawyers movement for the restoration of judges.
In October 2008, Chaudhry visited the Supreme Court building.
The Lawyers' Movement announced a "long march" for the restoration of the judges, especially Chief Justice Iftikhar from 12 to 16 March 2009. The government of Pakistan refused to reinstate the judges and declared section 144 in effect in three of the four provinces of Pakistan thereby forbidding any form of gatherings of the "long march". Arrangements were made to block all roads and other means of transport to prevent the lawyers from reaching the federal capital, Islamabad. Workers of the main political parties in opposition and the lawyers movement as well as other known persons from the civil society were arrested. Despite these efforts, the movement continued and was able to break through the blockade in Lahore en route to Islamabad in the night between 15th and 16th of March 2009. A few hours later, on the morning of March 16, 2009, the prime minister of Pakistan restored Chaudhary Iftikahar as chief justice of Pakistan through an executive order.[14] after which the opposition agreed to stop the "long march".
On April 13, 2005, in the "Judgment on 17th Amendment and President's Uniform Case", Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was one of 5 Supreme Court judges who dismissed all petitions challenging President Musharraf's consistitutional amendments. In a wide ranging judgement they declared that the Legal Framework Order (LFO) instituted by General Musharraf after his suspension of the constitution, the 17th amendment which gave this constitutional backing, and the two offices bill which allowed Musharraf to retain his military uniform whilst being President were all legal because the Parliament had approved the amendments.
In 2007, the Supreme court ruled against the government, saying that the selling of Pakistan Steel Mills to a group including Arif Habib, former client and friend of PM Shaukat Aziz, was done in "indecent haste".
The Hasba bill also proposed powers for the police to ensure observance of Islamic practices and values while curbing palm reading and other superstitious customs deemed un-Islamic by the legislators. General Pervez Musharraf petitioned the top court for an opinion after the Hasba bill was passed through North West Frontier Province's assembly. "The governor of the province of NWFP may not assent to the Hasba bill in its present form," Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, head of a panel of nine judges, told the court before listing several clauses in the bill deemed unconstitutional.
Many people in Pakistan had been allegedly kidnapped by the American agencies (FBI, CIA) and Pakistani agencies in pursuance of the "War on Terror." These actions were challenged in the Supreme Court and a bench under the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took up the case. The complainants in the matter headed by Ms Amina Masood Janjua representing 254 missing persons and their families pleaded that the persons concerned be presented in front of a magistrate in line with the law and be given a trial. The case is being pleaded by Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim and Asma Jahangir from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.[citation needed]
Some very important cases were heard in the supreme court in the 2007. Decisions have already been taken in some:
The decision of the court in CONSTITUTION PETITION NO. 08 and 09 OF 2009 from 14 member bench headed by Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, summarily removed all justices of higher judiciary who were not part of it as on November 2, 2007. There removal was so ordered on ground that advice of de-jure Chief Justice of Supreme Pakistan was not obtained in these cases. In the same decision the court had held the de-jure Chief Justice between the period of November 3, 2007 and March 22, 2009 was Justice Chaudhry.
There were three groups of these removed justices.
This decision have resulted in situation where:
In January 2000, Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry then a serving judge on the Balochistan High Court (BHC) was one of the first judges to take an oath on the PCO. This allowed him to be elevated to the Supreme Court to fill one of the vacancies left by the 11 judges who had resigned in protest at taking this oath.
In May 2000 Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was one of the 12 judges of the Supreme Court bench which reviewed and endorsed the legality of General Musharraf’s military coup d’état. It also allowed General Musharraf to make amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan to fulfill his purpose.[16]
Just prior to the holding of the October 2002 General Elections a five member bench the Supreme Court of Pakistan that Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was a member of dismissed a petition which challenged the promulgation of the Legal Framework Order(LFO)2002 by Chief Executive and President General Pervez Musharraf. Under the LFO General Musharraf announced amendments to the constitution which restored exective powers to the President, including the right to dismiss the National Assembly, appoint Governors and Service Chiefs and created a National Security Council (NSC). [17]
On April 13, 2005, in the "Judgment on 17th Amendment and President's Uniform Case", Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was one of 5 Supreme Court judges who dismissed all petitions challenging President Musharraf's consistitutional amendments. In a wide ranging judgement they declared that the Legal Framework Order (LFO) instituted by General Musharraf after his suspension of the constitution, the 17th amendment which gave this constitutional backing, and the two offices bill which allowed Musharraf to retain his military uniform whilst being President were all legal because the Parliament had approved the amendments.[18]
Ansar Abbasi brought forth allegations against Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhray for gross misconduct in 2002, accusing him for admitting his Son Dr. Arsalan to FIA undermining all merits.[19]
There have been several instances where certain people have marked and/or referred to the current Chief Justice of Pakistan Abdul Hameed Dogar as the Defacto Chief Justice of Pakistan, and referred to Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as the legal and/or current Chief Justice of Pakistan.
Justice Dogar was to the position of Chief Justice of Pakistan on 3 November 2007 and he was offered to take an oath on the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) which replaced the Constitution like Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry who took a similar oath on the PCO in 2000 and was elevated to the Chief Justice position. The oaths taken by Chief Justice Iftikhar however, were accorded constitutional status under the 17th Constitutional Amendment passed by parliament of Pakistan on 29 December 2004. Such ratification is yet to be accorded to oaths taken by Justice Dogar.
As with Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Dogar later took a fresh oath according to article 178 of the Constitution on 15 November 2007, thus making him the legal and dejure Chief Justice of Pakistan. Under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan a state of emergency can only be declared by the president. Instead of the president the emergency was declared by the army chief, the actions of Gen. Musharraf were illegal.
On 30 July 2009, a 14 member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that all the judges who had taken an oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO), were removed from office and are now facing the Supreme Judicial Council. Two days later an ordinance signed by President Asif Ali Zardari officially removed all PCO judges from office.[20]
In the wake of the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan, on November 14, 2007, the Harvard Law School Association[21] decided to award its highest honour, the Medal of Freedom, to Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, following the military crackdown the previous week. He becomes the first Pakistani to be presented with such honour.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry formally received the Harvard Law School Medal of Freedom during his visit to the United States in November, 2008.[22]
The National Law Journal picked Mr. Chaudhry as the lawyer of the year for 2007.
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York granted Mr. Chaudhry an honorary membership in the association on Nov. 17, 2008, recognizing him as a "symbol of the movement for judicial and lawyer independence in Pakistan."
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by Nazim Hussain Siddiqui |
Chief Justice of Pakistan 2005–2007 |
Succeeded by Abdul Hameed Dogar De facto |
| Preceded by Abdul Hameed Dogar De facto |
Chief Justice of Pakistan 2009 - Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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