KARACHI: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said that judges like former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry should also go through the process of accountability.

In a tweet posted on Saturday, the minister wrote: “As a result of two verdicts of the former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry and giving $100 million to lawyers as their fees, the country now faces a fine of $1.4 billion.”

“An incompetent judge can be very problematic. A change is needed in the process through which judges are appointed,” he added.

Speaking to Dawn, the minister said that the topic had come under discussion in the last cabinet meeting. “Prime Minister Imran Khan has formed a committee comprising the attorney general and law ministry officials to suggest accountability measures for judges,” he said.

On Tuesday, the federal cabinet was informed that the country had paid over $100m in international litigation during the last three years of the government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Prime Minister Khan had taken cognizance of spending huge amounts on international legal proceedings and formed a committee headed by the law minister to review them so as to avoid such expenditure in future.

In 2018, Fawad Chaudhry on behalf of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to launch an investigation against the ex-CJP and his family for allegedly receiving benefits in the scam of a failed private housing scheme, Eden Housing, in Lahore.

In a letter, Fawad Chaudhry had requested the NAB chairman to take action against Iftikhar Chaudhry, otherwise questions would be raised about the impartiality of NAB.

“Action should be taken against Iftikhar Chaudhry, his daughter, son-in-law and the father of his son-in-law for allegedly cheating innocent people who had invested their hard-earned money in the Eden Housing Scheme,” he had stated.

In September 2018, following the arrest of his son-in-law in a case regarding the multi-billion housing scam, the ex-CJP had termed Fawad Chaudhry’s claims as lies and warned that he would file a case against the minister under Article 62.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2019