March 11, 2007	Sunday	Safar 21, 1428

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QUETTA, March 10: Leader of the opposition in the Balochistan Assembly Kachkol Ali Baloch on Saturday condemned the president’s move to relieve the chief justice of Pakistan from his post and said that the president and the prime minister were acting like Mughal rulers faced with a disobedient chief minister.

He was speaking on a point of self-clarification in the house. Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar, who chaired the session on Saturday, allowed the opposition leader to record his statement under the assembly rules.

Mr Kachkol said that differences had surfaced between the government and the chief justice following the announcement of the verdict in the steel mills’ privatisation case. He said the government was unhappy over the chief justice’s suo motu actions on various issues that exposed government excesses but the president could no longer tolerate what he viewed as insubordination and acted harshly against Justice Chaudhary.

He said under Article 209 of the Constitution, the president could only file a reference against the malpractice of a chief justice before the Supreme Judicial Council but the president could not summon the chief justice and ask him to resign. He asserted that the president’s ‘unconstitutional decision’ was aimed at undermining the judiciary’s independence.

He condemned the president for what he termed insulting the chief justice, adding that Justice Chaudhary was further humiliated when his telephone was disconnected and police were deployed at his residence.