faisal-raza-abidi-670
PPP leader Faisal Raza Abidi. — File photo

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwart, Senator Faisal Raza Abidi on Thursday demanded Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to resign from his post for misusing authority, DawnNews reported.

Abidi tried to stage a sit-in when he was not allowed to speak on the subject during the Senate session on Thursday.

On chief whip’s intrusion, the PPP leader decided to sit on his allotted seat.

Criticizing the chief justice for allegedly using the letter head of the Supreme Court for his family’s business, Abidi said that Justice Chaudhry is guilty of violating the constitution.

He accused the chief justice of the apex court of excessively using the power of taking suo moto actions and against the court’s norms issued undue and excessive injunctions.

Abidi demanded Justice Tasaduq Jilani to call a meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council over the issue.

The senator, on the occasion, handed few important documents to the chair.

Earlier in August, Faisal Raza Abidi had hurled serious allegations against judges at a press conference, claiming “a judicial martial-law has been imposed in the country.”

The firebrand PPP senator had made allegations of prejudice against Chief Justice Chaudhry, and had demanded resignations of the reinstated judges who had taken oaths under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).

Moreover, he alleged the chief justice’s son, Arsalan Iftikhar, of indulging in financial impropriety. Abidi also claimed that PPP stalwart Aitzaz Ahsan had brought to the CJ’s attention that Arsalan’s bank accounts carried the address of the CJ’s official residence.

The senator said his party was being targeted by the court while cases against the PPP’s opponents had been granted stay orders.

Later that month, the PPP dissociated itself from Abidi’s anti-judiciary rhetoric, issuing him a notice for violating party discipline.

Opinion

Editorial

Punishing evaders
02 May, 2024

Punishing evaders

THE FBR’s decision to block mobile phone connections of more than half a million individuals who did not file...
Engaging Riyadh
Updated 02 May, 2024

Engaging Riyadh

It must be stressed that to pull in maximum foreign investment, a climate of domestic political stability is crucial.
Freedom to question
02 May, 2024

Freedom to question

WITH frequently suspended freedoms, increasing violence and few to speak out for the oppressed, it is unlikely that...
Wheat protests
Updated 01 May, 2024

Wheat protests

The government should withdraw from the wheat trade gradually, replacing the existing market support mechanism with an effective new one over the next several years.
Polio drive
01 May, 2024

Polio drive

THE year’s fourth polio drive has kicked off across Pakistan, with the aim to immunise more than 24m children ...
Workers’ struggle
Updated 01 May, 2024

Workers’ struggle

Yet the struggle to secure a living wage — and decent working conditions — for the toiling masses must continue.