Malik Ghulam Muhammad dissolved the Constituent Assembly of Muhammad Ali Bogra on the grounds that it had “lost the confidence of the people”, and declared a state of emergency in the country.

His move was contested by Maulvi Tamiz-ud-din, the president of constituent assembly, in Sindh High Court.

Sindh Court’s verdict was in Maulvi Tamiz-ud-din’s favour; however, Supreme Court of Pakistan reversed the decision. The verdict was announced by Justice Munir.

On July 5, 1977, the chief of army staff general Zia-ul-Haq, declared the third martial law in Pakistan and suspended the constitution.

Nusrat Bhutto filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the martial law imposed by Zia-ul-Haq, however the court validated the imposition under the ‘Doctrine of necessity’.

Bhutto was executed following charges of corruption and extrajudicial killings.

Bhutto’s case remains one of the most intriguing and controversial political case in the history of Pakistan.

A bench of seven judges was constituted in order to decide the proceeding of ZAB’s case. Three judges acquitted him whereas four judges declared him responsible for ordering extrajudicial murders. However, when Bhutto filed a petition to review his case, all the seven judges rejected it out rightly.

Zia issued the infamous provisional constitutional order of 1980 which granted exclusion of all martial law actions from the jurisdiction of courts. However, Quetta High court declared that the issuance of aforementioned stipulation and order go beyond the parameters of martial law regime.

After this ruling, General Zia issued PCO of 1981 which required all the judges to take new oaths validating that they will work in concurrence with the order. As a result of this 16 judges were fired and three refused to take oath but the rest succumbed under the pressure.

General Zia dismissed Junejo’s government on alleged corruption charges of national wealth, exercising article 58(2) b.

General Zia-ul-Haq along with his entourage and American official died in a plane crash.

During the Haji Saifullah Khan vs The Federation of Pakistan’s case, the Supreme court of Pakistan declared that dissolution of assembly by General Zia was an unconstitutional move, however the court did not revoke the orders as the entire nation was already geared up for the elections.

Pakistan Muslim League won the provincial and national elections and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was elected as the prime minister.

Sharif served as the prime minister till April 19, 1993, however Khan then dissolved the parliament again on charges of corruption by Sharif government and announced the date of elections to be held within a course of few months.

The elections were scheduled on July 14 but the Supreme Court declared Khan’s ruling as invalid and reinstated Sharif as the prime minister.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Nawaz Sharif to appoint five judges which was ignored by him. Following the alleged misconduct chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah issued a contempt of court order against Sharif and summoned him to the court, after which Sharif agreed to carry out the orders.

One of the biggest mob attacks was staged on November 28, 1997, when thousands of political workers gate crashed into the Supreme Court of Pakistan to protest against the contempt of court hearing.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was suspended by the President Musharraf as he refused to oblige to him by stepping down from his position. Chaudhary was accused of corruption, misdemeanour and stepping out of judicial parameters.

His suspension instigated a political and judicial turmoil over the country – a turmoil which was considered one of the factors in toppling Musharraf’s government.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary was reinstated in a ruling headed by Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday.

The ruling was given by a 13 member bench which unanimously decided that the petitions file by President Musharraf were unfounded and faulty.

Musharraf won the presidential election but was challenged by the Supreme Court.

President Musharraf declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution and parliament simultaneously.

Musharraf also ordered the house arrest of the Chief Justice and the judges responsible for his reinstatement.

Musharraf revoked his previous orders and lifted the emergency on December 15.

The long march was organised by the lawyers, who sought the restoration of Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry as chief justice. The march concluded in Islamabad on June 14, demanding the ouster of President Musharraf.

Ruling coalition (PPP and PML-N) decided, for the third time, to reinstate Chaudhry.

PML-N left the coalition, as the government failed to reinstate the chief justice.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued a petition to consider NRO 2007 to be null and void which provided immunity to the offenders of law, including money launderers and embezzlers. The ordinance of 2007 was drafted and approved by President Pervez Musharraf.

The court asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to reopen the cases against President Zardari entailing the Swiss scam; allegations which the premier out rightly denies to date.

Gilani is issued a contempt of court notice in the NRO implementation case, and is directed to appear before the apex court on January 19. He appoints Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan to represent him in the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court of Pakistan announced its verdict on February 2, 2012 signifying that Gilani will be indicted of the charges pertaining to contempt of court. Gilani has been summoned to appear before the court on February 13, 2012; however, he has decided to file an appeal before the appointed date.

On February 9, Supreme Court of Pakistan adjourned the contempt of court hearing against Prime Minister Gilani and instructed Ahsan to complete his arguments by February 10.

Chief Justice of Pakistan showed displeasure over certain points of the 200-page appeal and claimed that the language used in the document gave a negative impression of influencing the court of law.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan indicted Prime Minister Gilani for charges pertaining to contempt of court on February 13, 2012.
The Supreme Court ordered the prosecutor, attorney general, to submit sufficient documents by February 16.

PM’s counsel was ordered to compile and submit evidence by February 22 whereas Gilani’s evidence was announced to be recorded on February 27 and 28.

The contempt of court hearing continued on March 7, 2012, in which Defence and Cabinet Secretary, Nargis Sethi testified as a witness before the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Sethi acknowledged that two summaries were sent to Prime Minister by the Ministry of Law.

On March 8, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Gilani to submit the written reply by March 19 and adjourned the contempt of court hearing till March 21. Simultaneously, on the same day, Supreme Court in a hearing pertaining to National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case, ordered Prime Minister Gilani to correspond with the Swiss authorities again.

On March 14, Ahsan, whilst addressing the media, said that the Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq, being the prosecutor of the case, was ordered by the court to write a letter to the Swiss authorities. He said that the orders were given to the prosecutor in his absence on March 8.

Supreme Court of Pakistan, on April 26, found PM Gilani guilty of contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against the president, but gave him only a symbolic sentence of 30 seconds detention in the court room.

Prime Minister Gilani, on April 26, refused to step down after his contempt of court conviction, saying only the country’s parliament could remove him from office.

“There is no law to remove an elected prime minister. Parliament is the supreme authority and only this parliament has the authority to remove me,” he said in a defiant appearance in the National Assembly a day after the Supreme Court verdict.

Advocate Muhammad  Azhar Siddique, on May 11, submitted a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Gilani.

The petitioner contended that a convicted person cannot hold the prime minister’s office.

National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, on May 24, decided not to forward the disqualification reference against Prime Minsiter Gilani to the Election Commission of Pakistan after his conviction by the Supreme Court in the contempt of court case.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), on May 28, filed a petition in the Supreme Court against a ruling by the NA Speaker refusing to disqualify the prime minister.

The petition challenged NA Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza’s decision not to disqualify PM Gilani as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, a month after the Supreme Court convicted Gilani of contempt.

The Supreme Court, on June 6, admitted the petitions filed against Speaker Fehmida Mirza’s ruling on the disqualification reference against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for hearing.

The Supreme Court on June 19 ruled Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza’s ruling as void and declared that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani stood disqualified since April 26.

Chief Justice took suo moto action on the charges levelled against his son, Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry that he accepted bribes from Bahria Town’s founder, Malik Riaz, to gain influence in the judiciary.

Riaz Iftikhar and Salman Ahmed, son-in-law of Riaz, were found guilty of the charges and the court ordered strict action against them.

According to the Chief Justice, the move was an attempt to tarnish the image of Pakistan’s judiciary.

A day after Pakistan’s independence, the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) was launched. PBC was considered a direct descendant of the Indian Broadcasting Company. In its initial days, PBC has three radio stations, in Dhaka, Peshawar and Lahore.

Simultaneously the Dawn newspaper, which remains Pakistan’s most read and circulated English-language daily, relocated its headquarters to Karachi and went to print.

Daily Jang, which is the most widely-circulated Urdu newspaper of Pakistan, also started publishing from Karachi.

Radio stations were launched in Karachi and Rawalpindi.

A new broadcasting house was inaugurated in Karachi.

PBC launched a radio station in Hyderabad.

A radio station was launched in Quetta.

The Pakistan Television (PTV) was launched and broadcast its first transmission from Lahore.

PTV launched its operation and commenced broadcasting from Dhaka, Rawalpindi and Karachi.

Business Recorder, a newspapers primarily focussed on business news was also launched on February 17, 1965.

Broadcasting media in Pakistan was primarily dominated by state-owned PTV until the advent of Network Television Marketing (NTM), which came into existence after signing a three-year agreement with Shalimar Recording and Broadcasting Company (STN). NTM is considered to be Pakistan’s first official private television channel.

The News International, an English Newspaper, owned by Jang Group was launched.

Pakistan launched its first FM transmission.

The Lakson Group of Companies launched Express, an Urdu-language daily.

The Indus Media Group, which owns and operates Indus Television Network, was launched. It was first satellite channel of Pakistan. Indus TV has launched various music, news and entertainment channels under its corporate umbrella and has expanded geographically.

ARY Digital was launched in the end of 2000 in the UK to cater to the South Asian community. However, after realising the potential of Pakistani market, the network ventured into the local market.

Daily Times, an English-language newspaper owned by Media Times Limited, was launched.

Business Recorder Group launched Aaj News.

The Jang Group launched Geo News which is considered to be the most watched news channel in Pakistan. Geo News has also proved to be one of the most controversial media channels of the country.

President Pervez Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, which caused a huge upheaval in judiciary and media of Pakistan.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) issued a show cause notice to Aaj News for airing programs pertaining to judicial crisis in the country.

Dawn Media Group launched Dawn News, which initially, was an English-language news channel catering to the urban areas of Pakistan.

President Musharraf declared emergency in Pakistan and issued new directives to various media channels, which were openly criticising his policies and governance.

The government, headed by president Musharraf drafted an ordinance which entailed guidelines to the broadcasters and anchorpersons, hence restricting their freedom of expression and commitment to fair reporting.

The government halted transmissions of ARY One World and Geo News, however, people were able to watch their transmissions via satellite and internet streaming.

Authorities in Dubai blocked Geo News’ transmission, removing the channel entirely from the broadcasting medium on November 17.

Dubai Media City restored Geo News’ transmission on November 29.

Lakson Group of Companies, owners of daily Express newspaper, ventured into broadcasting with the launch of Express News.

President Musharraf lifted the ban he imposed on Geo TV’s transmission hours after he went on an eight-day tour to European countries. It is speculated that the ban was lifted under immense pressure from Europe.

However, Geo had to sign a code of conduct which minimised its capacity to criticise the government’s policies, before it was allowed to be broadcast again. Geo News, along with its other subsidiaries, incurred huge financial losses during the emergency imposed by the president.

Geo TV, once again faced government’s opposition when President Asif Ali Zardari ordered various cable operators across the country to block its transmissions. According to the representatives of Geo News, the order came about after the anchors and newscasters reminded President Zardari to fulfil the promises he and his party members made to the judiciary and media.

The ban was followed by the resignation of the then federal minister for Information and Broadcasting, Sherry Rehman, who opposed the ban.

Lakson Group launched The Express Tribune, an English-language newspaper in affiliation with The International Herald Tribune, the global edition of New York Times.

The government banned Geo Super’s transmission which according to officials from Geo TV came about after the media channel unravelled the conspiracies related to government’s alleged corruption.

The ban was opposed by major media channels, politicians and the masses of Pakistan.

The transmission was finally restored; however, the constant friction between Geo News and reigning government has not yet abated.

Shaheen Sehbai revealed that Malik Riaz had confided in various journalists including Kamran Khan that he possessed evidence against Chief Justice’s son Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry. Riaz accused him of accepting bribes and kickbacks to assist him in gaining influence in the judiciary.

Chief Justice took suo moto action against the allegations. During the proceedings of the case prominent journalists testified in the court.

During the same month, anchorpersons from a private news channel interviewed Riaz. The footage revealing during the break segments of the show was made viral which proved that the show was planted.

Iskander Mirza took charge as the fourth governor general of Pakistan and dismissed the country’s third prime minister Muhammad Ali Bogra.

Iskander Mirza, with the assistance of his commander-in-chief Muhammad Ayub Khan, suspended the 1956 constitution and declared the fist martial law in Pakistan – which lasted until 1962. This step involved dissolution of provincial and national assemblies and termination of various ministers.

Although the coup and martial law were unconstitutional moves, they were permitted by Justice Munir. His actions played an active role in establishing the famous ‘doctrine of necessity’ – a term which signifies extra-legal actions undertaken by the significant state actors in order to restore law and order in the country.

Pakistan and India fought their second war over Kashmir, after 1947. The war started in August after an estimated 26,000-33,000 Pakistani soldiers crossed the line of control disguised as Kashmiri locals to start a rebellion against Indian occupation.

The war which ended in 1965, was inconclusive where both sites captured soldiers as prisoners of wars and occupied some territory belonging to other. An estimated number of 3,800 Pakistani troops lost their lives in the war of 1965.

Pakistani Army experienced one of the heaviest setbacks in 1971, when East Pakistan separated from West Pakistan. The war was instigated after the 1970 elections, which were won by East Pakistan’s Awami League. The party’s leader Sheikh Mujibur Rehman presented his famous six points to prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, to form a government, which were refused by the prime minister. President Yahya Khan tried to curb the rebellion initiated in East Pakistan after Bhutto’s refusal to surrender his premiership, in the form of various operations to capture and kill the ‘rebels’. India, on the contrary, sided with East Pakistan wholeheartedly and welcomed banished leaders and refugees.

India’s involvement caused politicians in Pakistan to stage demonstrations urging the government to take military action against Indians. In retaliation to the state of affairs in West Pakistan, India started deploying troops at East Pakistan-India border.

On December 3, Pakistani air force launched a strike on 11 airfields in north-western India, including Agra, marking the official start of 1971’s war. However, facing major failure in air and ground strikes, Pakistani troops surrendered on December 16 with as much as 90,000 prisoners of war and a heavy death toll.

On July 5, 1977, the chief of army staff general Zia-ul-Haq, declared the third martial law in Pakistan and suspended the constitution.

Zia issued the infamous provisional constitutional order of 1980, which granted exclusion of all martial law actions from the jurisdiction of courts. However, the Quetta High Court declared that the issuance of aforementioned stipulation and order go beyond the parameters of the martial law regime.

The eighth amendment was added to the 1973 constitution, which affected 19 clauses of the entire constitution. The constitution gave sufficient power to the president of Pakistan including the authority to dissolve the national assembly, specified as Article 58(2) b.

According to the new clause, all decisions pertaining to the governance and administration of the country were to be made in consensus with the president.

The articles and changes made to the constitution changed the entire system from being a parliamentary regime to a presidential one.

General Zia dismissed Muhammad Khan Junejo’s government on alleged corruption charges of national wealth, exercising article 58(2) b.

General Zia-ul-Haq died in a plane crash, along with his military entourage, the US Ambassador to Pakistan and head of the US Military Aid Mission to Pakistan shortly after takeoff from Bahawalpur.

The Kargil war, which was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan, took place when Pakistani soldiers and insurgents infiltrated into Indian-administered Kashmir through the de facto border dividing the Himalayan region. However, Pakistan Army has denied that members among its ranks were involved and blamed the act on insurgents.

The military command, headed by General Pervez Musharraf, took charge of the state of affairs and staged a coup against Nawaz Sharif’s regime.

Following the coup, Sharif and his collaborators were arrested for various charges pertaining to hijacking and kidnapping, but were later pardoned by the government and sent to Saudi Arabia on exile.

Government decided to repeal the 13th and 14th amendments introduced by Sharif in the 1973 constitution.

A referendum was held in 2002, which resulted in a majority vote in favour of General Musharraf, resulting in his appointment as the president for the next five years.

After negotiating with various tribal leadersPakistan Army invaded the Fata belt to capture foreign militants who were suspected to have ties with Al Qaeda. However, ever since the incursion, Pakistan Army and the government have faced intense retaliation from the locals.

Taliban developed their strong foothold in the area by gradually eliminating rival tribal leaders and abolishing Jirga nizam whilst enforcing Sharia. By the time Pakistan’s Army realised that they were fighting against locals, rather than foreign elements, the group which later on emerged as Therik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), had killed 200 tribal leaders to consolidate power.

President Musharraf declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution and parliament simultaneously.

A deadly mountainous battle broke out in March of 2004, between the army and Taliban accompanied by certain members of Al Qaeda. The battle ended when the army was able to takeover the command of entire mountainous region.

In order to capture and kill militants in the North Western side of Pakistan, US government has launched a series of drone attacks since the beginning of 2004. The Shamsi airfield of Pakistan was used to launch these attacks until 2011.

Musharraf revoked his previous orders and lifted the emergency on December 15.

President Musharraf resigned after PPP and PML-N launched impeachment proceedings against him.

Operation Rah-e-Rast was launched to evict Taliban from Swat in Khyber Pakhtumkhwa. The fighting began in Mingora between elite Paksitani commandoes and the Taliban, however, Pakistani Army was able to recapture the major portion of the city by the end of the operation.

Later on, area and scope of the operation were expanded to other districts and towns including Malam Jabba.

The offensive targeted various Taliban commanders who were either killed or captured during the operation.

US Navy Seals launched a midnight operation to capture famous Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abottabad, Pakistan, which is a few hundred yards away from the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA).

Wikilieaks report allegedly stated that senior Inter-Services Intellugnce (ISI) officials were in close contact with Osama bin Laden, however, Pakistani Army denied the allegations

Mansoor Ijaz wrote an article in Financial Times, revealing that he delivered a memorandum allegedly written by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani to Admiral Mike Mullen. The revelation created a frenzy of activity in Pakistan bringing Haqqani’s role into question.

The memo is speculated to have been written just after Osama bin Laden’s killing in Pakistan and allegedly seeks help from the US to rein in the country’s military and intelligence agencies.

Nato air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at Salala check post which resulted in massive hue and cry from Pakistan Army and the government as it was considered an attack on Pakistan’s soil.

US and Afghan authorities, on the contrary, claimed that the attack was in retaliation to the firing which emanated from Pakistan’s border, allegations, which were called outrageous and irresponsible from Pakistan’s side.

The attack resulted in deterioration in US-Pakistan ties which were already strained after OBL’s presence in the country.

Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani publicly announced that he and his party members will not accept ‘a state within a state’; a remark which instigated a sense of disagreement between the civil and military command within the country.

However, General Kayani reiterated that the army does not aim to ‘stage a coup’ and this is another tactic deployed by the government to digress from memo scandal.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani terminated the secretary defence, Khalid Naeem Lodhi, on alleged misconduct and disciplinary actions.

The termination instigates Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, COAS, to call for an emergency meeting in Rawalpindi.

Prime minister previously claimed that the COAS and DG-ISI bypassed the defence and interior ministry whilst filing their respective responses in the Supreme Court of Pakistan with respect to memo scandal.

-File photo

KARACHI: Former hockey great Shahnaz Sheikh has warned Pakistan and its management to not over-hype its bronze-medal showing at the four-nation International Super Series 9s that recently concluded in Perth, Australia.

Sheikh said the up-coming eight-nations Champions Trophy would be an accurate indicator of Pakistan’s calibre.

“Celebrating the third position in a four-nation tournament is an indication of where the team actually stands,” Sheikh said of the Super Series performance.

“The national team’s coaching consultant Tahir Zaman and goal-keeping coach Ahmed Alam have both claimed that the sole victory against India in the tournament had boosted the morale of the team ahead of the Champions Trophy.”

After conceding a 2-5 defeat against arch-rival India in the group stage, Pakistan recorded an identical 5-2 victory in the third place play-off against the same opponents. Prior to that, the Greenshirts lost to Australia and England in performances that clearly displayed a lack of fitness and communication among the players.

“Winning one match out of four is p-0ly any cause for celebration. India is placed at 11th spot, two places behind green-shirts on the international circuit. But the way the team officials were behaving was quite disappointing.”

“There was little understanding of the nine-a-side format among our players, which was easily be visible by comprehensively going through the scorecard of the round matches our team played against Australia, England and India,” he said.

“They should have played aggressively because nine-a-side format gives ample space for attacking game because of reduced number of players. But our team got few penalty corners, which showed that they were reluctant to play aggressive hockey in Perth.”

Sheikh was of the view that Pakistan would end up at the bottom of the table in the Champions Trophy unless they tightened up their game by miles.

The Champions Trophy will be played in Melbourne from December 1-9 and apart from Pakistan and hosts Australia, Belgium, England, India, Germany, Netherlands and New Zealand will be seen in action during the tournament.

The constituent assembly made amendments in the 1954 constitution which resulted in revocation of Malik Ghulam Muhammad’s power as governor general, rights which had previously empowered him to dismiss Khawaja Nazimuddin’s government.

Following the decision made by the constituent assembly Ghulam Muhammad dissolved it in a move that was contested by Maulvi Tamiz-ud-din, the president of constituent assembly, in Sindh High Court.

Iskander Mirza took charge as the fourth governor general of Pakistan and dismissed Muhammad Ali Bogra.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto formulated the 1973 constitution, which was drafted unanimously by the ruling and opposing parties of the country.

According to the constitution of 1973, the power of decision making was with the prime minister and the president only served as the figure head. With the article in place, Bhutto was sworn in as the prime minister of Pakistan on August 14, 1973.

Various amendments were introduced to the original constitution of 1973 by Bhutto, however, the one which instigated uproar from the judicial command of the country entailed the curtailing of authority and jurisdiction of the judiciary.

A strong formation of all the opposing political parties, under the umbrella of Pakistan National Alliance (PNA), led Bhutto to call for early elections.

Elections were held in March and PPP won by a heavy majority, however PNA refused to accept the results and accused PPP of rigging the elections.

The political situation resulted in a strong movement against Bhutto where masses poured out onto the streets and many political leaders were arrested for their rebellion.

Bhutto was executed following charges of corruption and extrajudicial killings.

General Zia-ul-Haq became the president and Muhammad Khan Junejo was elected as the prime minister of Pakistan.

General Zia-ul-Haq along with his entourage and the US ambassador to Pakistan died in a plane crash.

Soon after the death of Zia-ul-Haq, elections were held in the country, which were won by PPP. Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first woman prime minister of Pakistan.

Following the increasing conflicts between Khan and Bhutto, the former dissolved the parliament and sacked Bhutto on corruption charges, appointing Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi as the interim prime minister.

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) won the provincial and national elections and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was elected as the prime minister.

Sharif served as the prime minister until April 19, 1993, when Khan then dissolved the parliament again on charges of corruption by Sharif government and announced the date of elections to be held within a course of few months.

The elections were scheduled on July 14 but the Supreme Court declared Khan’s ruling as invalid and reinstated Sharif as the prime minister.

The mounting tensions and conflict between the president and prime minister led to the resignations of both.

After the general elections of 1993, which were boycotted by significant political factions including MQM, PPP won with heavy majority and Bhutto was elected as the prime minister for the second time.

On the alleged charges of corruption and extrajudicial killings, Laghari dismissed Bhutto’s government and announced the date of next elections.

General elections were held on February 3, 1997 and Sharif was elected as the prime minister of Pakistan for the second time.

The thirteenth amendment was introduced to the constitution, which empowered prime minister and gave him the right to appoint the chief of the army staff and other important civil and military officials.

The thirteenth amendment repealed the much controversial 58(2) b thereby divesting president’s power.

Asif Ali Zardari was imprisoned on charges of corruption and money laundering by the Sharif government.

Referendum was held in 2002 in which major portion of the Pakistanis voted for General Musharraf, resulting in his appointment as the president for the next five years.

Asif Ali Zardari was released from the court and went on an overseas exile.

Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan after an eight-year-long self-imposed exile and after signing the National Reconciliation Ordnance, which . Having survived an attempt on her entourage from the Karachi airport to her Bilawal House residence, Benazir was assassinated nearly two months later on December 26 in Rawalpindi, where she had addressed a rally.

General elections were held in Pakistan in which Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-N won a major chunk of the seats. Both the majority parties formed a coalition government in which Yousuf Raza Gilani was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

PML-N left the coalition, as the government failed to reinstate the chief justice.

Asif Ali Zardari won the presidential election.

Mansoor Ijaz wrote an article in Financial Times where he revealed that he delivered a memorandum written by a Pakistani official posted in the US to Admiral Mike Mullen. The revelation created a frenzy of activity in Pakistan bringing the role of then ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, into question.

Hussain Haqqani resigns from his position amidst chaos and allegations pertaining to him having drafted the controversial memo.

Chief of the main opposition party Nawaz Sharif files a petition in the Supreme Court to investigate the memo scandal, now dubbed as ‘memogate’.

Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani publicly announces that he and his party members will not accept ‘a state within a state’; a remark which instigated a sense of disagreement between the civil and military command within the country.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan declares that the petitions filed by Nawaz Sharif and other political leaders to further investigate the memo scandal, are ‘maintainable’.

A commission is formed by the Supreme Court to probe into the controversial case involving the former Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani.

Later on, Haqqani’s legal counsel, Asma Jahangir declares the decision to be a clear victory of military authority over civilian authority.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued a warning against the government to implement and execute the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) issued in the December of 2009, by writing to the Swiss government.

The reopening of cases will have repercussions for President Asif Ali Zardari who will then be defending various charges filed against him, including entailing money laundering and corruption.

Moreover, Gilani is issued a contempt of court notice in the NRO implementation case, and is directed to appear before the apex court on January 19. He appoints Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan to represent him in the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court of Pakistan announced its verdict on February 2,  signifying that Gilani will be indicted of the charges pertaining to contempt of court. Gilani was summoned to appear before the court on February 13; however, he decided to file an appeal before the appointed date.

Moreover, during the same month, the ruling party and the opposition failed to reach an agreement on the 20th amendment’s bill. The bill aims to validate more than two dozen post-eighteenth amendment by-elections.

Simultaneously, Aitzaz Ahsan filed an intra-court appeal requesting Supreme Court of Pakistan to suspend the decision of framing charges against Prime Minister Gilani.

On February 10,an eight-member bench dismissed Gilani’s appeal to review the previously announced verdict on contempt of court charges.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan indicted Prime Minister Gilani for charges pertaining to contempt of court on February 13 and ordered the prosecutor, attorney general, to submit sufficient documents by February 16.

Simultaneously, the PM’s counsel was ordered to compile and submit evidence by February22 whereas Gilani’s evidence was to be recorded on February 27 and 28.

After a fortnight of dispute and m-4 backs, the government and opposition unanimously m-4 through the National assembly a revised constitution amendment on February 14. The amendment provides for a strong Election Commission, a pre-election interim set-up and restoration of 28 suspended federal and provincial lawmakers. However, the bill was deferred by the senate on February 17 because of various discrepancies between the opposition and the government.

The 20th amendment bill was finally adopted by the senate on February 20, but not unanimously as the National Assembly had done last week.

The adoption of the amendment by the upper house of parliament has cleared the way for the president to sign the bill which envisages an independent and powerful election commission, setting up of a neutral caretaker regime to hold general elections and restoration of 28 suspended lawmakers.

Moreover, a day before the formal contempt of court hearing, Gilani’s counsel submitted a miscellaneous application requesting two top government officers and a former law minister to be summoned as court witnesses.

Ahsan requested the court to summon Cabinet and Defence Secretary Nargis Sethi, Law Secretary Masood Chishti and former law minister Babar Awan to record their statements as court witnesses.

The contempt of court hearing continued on March 7, in which Defence and Cabinet Secretary, Nargis Sethi testified as a witness before the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Sethi acknowledged that two summaries were sent to Prime Minister by the Ministry of Law.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Gilani to submit the written reply by March 19 and adjourned the contempt of court hearing till March 21. Simultaneously, on the same day, Supreme Court in a hearing pertaining to National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case, ordered Prime Minister Gilani to correspond with the Swiss authorities again.

Ahsan, whilst addressing the media, said that the Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq, being the prosecutor of the case, was ordered by the court to write a letter to the Swiss authorities. He said that the orders were given to the prosecutor in his absence on March 8.

Prime Minister Gilani, on March 15, publicly announced his refusal to correspond with the Swiss authorities.

He further commented that writing a letter would be a violation to the constitution which carries death sentence whereas the refusal to correspond might result in six months’ imprisonment which is better than the former penalty.

Gilani, whilst addressing the journalists at his residence on March 18, said that he is ready to resign from the premiership if that will resolve the issue of writing a letter to Swiss authorities.

MAhsan on March 19 stated that Gilani’s conviction will not necessarily result in disqualification as a sentence of less than two years cannot affect anyone’s eligibility.

On the same day, Gilani submitted his written reply in the Supreme Court of Pakistan stating his official refusal to correspond with the Swiss authorities.

Ahsan said that according to article 10 (a), fair trial remains a constitutional right of every Pakistani citizen. Ahsan also claimed that the current trial contradicts the aforementioned article.

Moreover, Ahsan challenged the eligibility of judges who issued a show cause notice to Gilani, however the court replied to his argument by stating that if Ahsan’s stance on this issue is considered valid then every defendant will feel free to challenge the court.

On April 12, the Supreme Court resumed hearing of the contempt of court hearing against Prime Minister Gilani.

Ahsan argued that under Article 10 A of the constitution of Pakistan, the sitting bench remains ineligible to hear the case.

He further stated that the clause on transparent proceedings emphasises on the fact that no person can be a judge in his own case.

However, Justice Khosa said that all proceedings regarding contempt of court cases are only completed by the court.

On March 13, The Supreme Court resumed the hearing of the contempt of court case against Prime Minister Gilani.

The newly appointed Attorney General of Pakistan, Irfan Qadir, was also present in the court.

Qadir was permitted by the court to act as a prosecutor in the case and was provided with two days to start his arguments.

The hearing against PM’s contempt case continued on April 16 and Ahsan, whilst defending his client, reiterated that under Article 10 A of the constitution, the present bench could not try the prime minister for contempt as that would be in conflict with the principles of a fair trial.

Ahsan also requested the court to delay its decision on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case as he is of the view that his arguments would be of no use after a decision on the NRO is announced.

The verdict on NRO was expected today however NRO’s hearing was adjourned till May 3 whilst the court directed authorities to bring former attorney general Malik Abdul Qayyum back to Pakistan.

Presenting his arguments regarding presidential immunity before the court, Ahsan reiterated that heads of state enjoyed immunity from prosecution in criminal and civil cases in courts across the globe.

Ahsan concluded his arguments with respect to Article 10 A and also emphasised on the point that parliament remains independent regarding the law and constitution.

During the hearing of the contempt of court case against prime minister, on April 19, Ahsan said the United Nations, in one of its reports, had granted immunity to heads of state from prosecution in a foreign country.

Ahsan also produced the report before the Supreme Court’s seven-judge bench, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, to support his argument on presidential immunity.

He further said that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had also stopped courts from trying heads of state in the past.

The hearing on contempt of court continued on April 20 during which Ahsan said that the prime minister only followed procedure and implemented the summaries presented to him.

During the course of the hearing on April 24, newly-appointed Attorney General of Pakistan Irfan Qadir claimed that no law addressing contempt of court existed in Pakistan.

Qadir made the claim while presenting his arguments in the contempt of court case.

He further said that a contempt of court ordinance was promulgated in the country in July 2003 but that it had expired in December 2003.

Supreme Court of Pakistan, on April 26, found PM Gilani guilty of contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against the president, but gave him only a symbolic sentence of 30 seconds detention in the court room.

Prime Minister Gilani, on April 26, refused to step down after his contempt of court conviction, saying only the country’s parliament could remove him from office.

“There is no law to remove an elected prime minister. Parliament is the supreme authority and only this parliament has the authority to remove me,” he said in a defiant appearance in the National Assembly a day after the Supreme Court verdict.

Prime Minister Gilani, on April 30, said he would not resign from his position, adding that the Supreme Court’s conviction had no relation with the process of disqualification.

He further said that he had the right of appeal against the apex court’s ruling.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said, on May 1, that three judges who were part of the bench that heard the contempt case against the prime minister would not be available if a review petition came up.

Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza, on May 3, said that she had not made up her mind regarding the Supreme Court’s conviction of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

She said she would consider the subject once the detailed verdict on the contempt of court case comes out.

The Supreme Court issued the detailed verdict in the contempt of court case against Prime Minister Gilani on May 8.

Advocate Muhammad  Azhar Siddique, on May 11, submitted a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Gilani.

The petitioner contended that a convicted person cannot hold the prime minister’s office.

He further added that neither Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza nor the Election Commission of Pakistan has any role in this regard.

National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, on May 24, decided not to forward the disqualification reference against Prime Minsiter Gilani to the Election Commission of Pakistan after his conviction by the Supreme Court in the contempt of court case.

Prime Minister Gilani and his close legal and political advisers, on May 25, discussed the pros and cons of challenging the Supreme Court’s decision convicting the prime minister in the contempt case, decided late in the night not to file the appeal.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), on May 28, filed a petition in the Supreme Court against a ruling by the NA Speaker refusing to disqualify the prime minister.

The petition challenged NA Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza’s decision not to disqualify PM Gilani as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, a month after the Supreme Court convicted Gilani of contempt.

Prime Minister Gilani, on May 29, said that both Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chief Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan were not members of parliament which was why they could not understand the significance of speaker’s ruling.

Speaking to media representatives in Islamabad, the premier categorically stated that National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza’s ruling pertaining to the disqualification reference was final and could not be challenged.

The Supreme Court, on June 6, admitted the petitions filed against Speaker Fehmida Mirza’s ruling on the disqualification reference against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for hearing.

The petitions were filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khwaja Asif and Senator Zafar Ali Khan.

The hearing against National Assembly’s Speaker, Fehmida Mirza, ruling case continued in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, on June 14.

Advocate, A K Dogar, whilst presenting his arguments, said that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, was disqualified by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, however, he is still running a public office.

Dogar further said that PM Gilani deliberately insulted the court and the speaker’s ruling was against the seven-member bench’s verdict.

The Supreme Court, on June 15, resumed the hearing on petitions challenging the ruling of the National Assembly’s Speaker on the issue of disqualification of the Prime Minister.

The Supreme Court resumed the hearing into the Speaker ruling case on June 18.

During the hearing, a written reply from Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza was submitted in the apex court by Attorney General Irfan Qadir.

Ahsan said that under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution, the Supreme Court did not have the authority to hear the petitions.

The Supreme Court on June 19 ruled Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza’s ruling as void and declared that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani stood disqualified since April 26.

Following Gilani’s disqualification, President Asif Ali Zardari disregarded the option of early general elections and said that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will announce the name of the new prime minister after National Assembly’s session on June 22.

Coalition parties considered various politicians for the position of prime minister of the country including, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Maulana Fazlur Rehman. However, PPP nominated Ashraf as the candidate for PM on June 22.

The nomination received retaliation from various factions within the ruling party and coalition members. However, the lower house of the parliament voted in the favour of Ashraf and elected him as the 17th prime minister of Pakistan.