March 10, 2007	Saturday	Safar 20, 1428

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ISLAMABAD/LONDON, March 9: The top leadership of the opposition on Friday unanimously condemned the suspension of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, and described the presidential action as a disgrace to the office of the chief justice. It said it was a calculated move to malign and gag the higher judiciary and to pave the way for postponement of elections and imposition of emergency.

Leaders of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf and other parties called upon the legal community and the people to stand up against the move which had tarnished the image and prestige of the judiciary.

The government, however, defended the move, saying the action had been taken on a reference filed by President Gen Pervez Musharraf under Article 209 of the Constitution which clearly authorised the president to restrain the CJP from performing his duties till the SJC decided the reference.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Secretary-General Maulana Fazlur Rahman said: "This step is a blow to the whole system and it needs a thorough review by the combined opposition in order to adopt a unified stand."

Talking to reporters by telephone from Peshawar, the Maulana said the decision was a blow to the judiciary as the chief justice had been known for his blunt observations against government’s performance and he had made the judiciary very active by taking suo motu notice of various human rights violations.

He said that the real purpose behind the move appeared to be to put pressure on the higher judiciary to give up the independence that it had demonstrated through its various verdicts.

Leader of Opposition in Senate Mian Raza Rabbani said it was a black day in the history of the country.

He said the elevation of a junior judge in place of the suspended CJP was a question mark and sent a wrong message.

He said the apex court had defied a number of government directives and given independent judgments in a number of cases which the government did not like.

MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that it was an insult to the entire judiciary, and called upon all political parties to draw up a common strategy to face the situation.

Talking to Dawn by telephone, the MMA chief said the step was meaningful at a juncture when some important legal issues, including Gen Musharraf retaining his uniform beyond 20007, were pending before the court.

This step, he said, had proved that there was no respect for any top office in the country. He said the entire nation should stand up to protest against this situation which would further damage the already fragile judicial system.

In a strongly-worded statement issued in London on Friday, PML-N described the move as the worst form of dictatorial terrorism ever unleashed against the judiciary in the subcontinent.

The statement said that the manner in which the judges of the Supreme Court were terrorised by the presence of police in court premises and the way the chief justice was summoned to the Army House and kept there incommunicado as if he was under arrest while charges against him were read out to him indicated that the Chief of Army Staff had lost confidence in the PCO judges as well.

The statement said that Gen Musharraf had earlier imprisoned former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Saeed uz Zaman Siddiqui, when he had refused to take oath under the PCO and had now attacked Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

The statement further said that those who thought Musharraf was a legal president should now ask him under what law had he suspended the chief justice as the cited Article 209 did not authorise suspension of a serving judge.

PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq termed the action part of a pre-planned malicious campaign to defame the judiciary. He said that the government did not expect any favour if it had filed a reference seeking postponement of elections or re-election of the president.

PTI chairman Imran Khan said the move was a hidden message for other judges to either obey the government dictates or be ready to face a similar fate.

He alleged that the government had taken the action because it was under tremendous pressure as the suspended chief justice had recently taken a suo motu action against government agencies in a human rights case about the disappearance of a large number of people.

MMA vice-president and chief of JUP Allama Shah Anas Noorani said president had no powers to gag the CJP and whatever he had done was to pressurise the judiciary against taking any action detrimental to the interests of the government.

PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal termed the suspension a judicial coup which was a clear indication that the Musharraf regime had failed to accept the Supreme Court verdict against privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills.

He said the Supreme Court had stopped the government from the sale of Pakistan Steel Mills for a meagre sum of Rs21 billion. He claimed that the real value of the national asset was over Rs200 billion.