International   

Pakistan thins down reference against Chief Justice

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government on Monday thinned down a reference against Chief justice Ifthikar Chaudhary by withdrawing a section in it relating to judicial misconduct.

Lawyers for President Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistan Government informed a 13-judge Bench hearing Mr. Chaudhary’s petition challenging the reference that the Government had decided to withdraw two paragraphs in the reference relating to charges of judicial misconduct against the “non-functional” Chief Justice.

But they said the charges of misuse of power against Mr. Chaudhary remained.

The hearing is in its final stages, with the Bench having set July 20 as the deadline for deciding the case. The March 9 reference set off an unprecedented agitation against President Musharraf, with the Chief Justice fighting back, both in court and on the streets, supported by the entire legal community and Opposition parties.

The two withdrawn paragraphs relate to the allegation of discrepancies between Mr. Chaudhary’s verbal orders in court and the written orders. The reference said this had come to light in at least two cases.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Pakistan thins down reference against Chief Justice
NWFP Government-tribals pact to end violence
Six die in Japan quake
13 Tigers surrendered: army
Jolt to Nepal verification
Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary visiting Pakistan
U.K. to expel four Russian diplomats
Solution should be acceptable to all: Pakistan
“Taliban behind attack”
Somali talks put off
Hasina arrested, sent to jail
Sabeel remanded to custody till August 13

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu