Pakistani president removes chief justice
By Munir Ahmad
ASSOCIATED PRESS, March 9, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan's president has removed the Islamic nation's chief justice for “misuse of authority,” a minister and state media reported Friday.
Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, chief judge of the Supreme Court since 2005, had enjoyed a reputation for taking a tough line against government misdeeds and human rights abuses.
Opposition groups, lawyers and former judges expressed surprise over the dismissal, which underlined the power of the executive – dominated by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf – over the judiciary.
A hard-line opposition leader in the National Assembly, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, condemned Chaudhry's removal and urged the opposition parties to back the fired justice “to protect the judiciary from a dictator (Musharraf).”
Speculation about reasons for Chaudhry's fall ranged from reports that he had misused his influence to secure official employment for his son, to recent court rulings that had challenged the government's authority.
Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani said Musharraf removed Chaudhry for “misuse of authority” but gave no further details.
The president has submitted a case against Chaudhry to the Supreme Judicial Council, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported.
Musharraf had received “numerous complaints and serious allegations for misconduct, misuse of authority and actions prejudicial to the dignity of office of the chief justice of Pakistan,” and Chaudhry had been unable to give a satisfactory explanation, APP said. The report did not detail the accusations against the judge.
The council is a panel of top Pakistani judges that hears cases against serving judges and will decide whether the charges against Chaudhry merit his formal dismissal and whether he should be prosecuted.
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