ISLAMABAD, March 22: A government spokesman on Thursday advised Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry not to ‘politicise’ the reference against him by addressing different bars in the country.
“It would be in his own interest that such a sensitive issue is not politicised,” said Advocate Arif Chaudhry, designated as the official spokesman for the law ministry, on Thursday while talking to reporters here at the Supreme Court building.
On Wednesday, the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), along with other members of the panel defending Justice Chaudhry, had announced he would address the Rawalpindi High Court Bar Association on March 28 and the Peshawar High Court Bar on March 30.
He also said President Musharraf had not revealed anything about the allegations in the reference during his public meeting in Gujranwala or while giving interview to a private channel.
About ‘inadequacies’ in the reference sent by President Pervez Musharraf to the SJC, Arif Chaudhry said the law did not bar the president from filing a supplementary reference.
He said changes in the composition of the five-member Supreme Judicial Council were likely after Justice Rana Bhagwandas takes oath as the Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan on Saturday.
Under the constitution, Justice Rana Bhagwandas is bound to head the SJC, he said. The composition of the council is specifically laid down in Article 209 of the Constitution and the government has no role in its formation.
On Justice Chaudhry’s allegations of bias against two members of the council, Arif Chaudhry said it was a discretion of the judges to sit in the council or not. “They have constitutional right to keep sitting in the council despite allegations and objections,” he said.
Arif Chaudhry cited an example from the Wali Khan case of 1976 when the ban on the National Awami Party was challenged and the matter was referred to the Supreme Judicial Council.
Wali Khan had raised objection against a member of the council, Justice Afzal Cheema. But Justice Cheema rejected the allegations and continued to be a member of the council, Arif Chaudhry recalled.
