Current Chief Justice Of Supreme Court

SC orders three federal secretaries to file comments

The court also ruled that a powerful commission would be constituted to probe the matter after receiving comments from the respondents. A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Pervez and Justice Amir Hani Muslim, was hearing a constitutional petition filed by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). The court, in its preliminary hearing, ruled that a powerful commission would be constituted after receiving para-wise comments from the respondents. The court also directed the IGPs of Punjab and Islamabad to appear in person on June 20 along with complete details pertaining to the progress made so far in the investigation of the murder of journalist. Advocates Asma Jehangir and Munir A Malik appeared before the court on behalf of the PFUJ and argued that the provision of consultation with the chief justice was built into the Commission of Inquiry Act 1956. They submitted that the commission constituted by the government for probing the murder of Saleem Shahzad was against the independence of the judiciary. They further submitted that Saleem Shahzad’s phone records had been erased and this could only be done by a powerful agency. PFUJ President Pervez Shauqat, RIUJ President Aslam Butt and other journalists, including Hamid Mir, were also present in the courtroom. During the course of hearing, the chief justice enquired whether the case of abduction and killing of Saleem Shahzad had been filed. Asma replied that the case had been filed in Islamabad but the Punjab Police were conducting the investigation. “As Saleem Shahzad was abducted from Islamabad, the case has been filed in Islamabad,” Asma said. She submitted that Shahzad was mysteriously abducted on May 29, 2011, and his dead body was recovered from a canal in Mandi Bahauddin on May 30. She said the body was buried on the same day. Subsequently, on May 31, 2011, Shahzad’s dead body, bearing signs of brutal torture, was identified and the post-mortem report verified the abuse. To a question, Asma said that there were suspicions the ISI had erased the phone records of the deceased Shahzad since it was the only agency that could access or manipulate the phone records. To another question, she said under the law, the court could summon the ISI chief, adding that he was not more powerful than the prime minister and president.

Saleem Shahzad Commission: Govt commissions another controversy ...

Its nominee to head a commission to probe journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder , Supreme Court judge Mian Saqib Nisar, refused to lead investigations shortly after his nomination on Thursday.

Nisar said he would not undertake the job because Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani did not consult Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry prior to nominating him, in violation of established judicial norms.

Meanwhile, justifying the government’s action, Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said that consultation with the chief justice was not required for setting up the probe commission. She cited the example of Abbottabad probe commission, where a sitting Supreme Court judge, Justice Javed Iqbal, was appointed head of the commission without prior permission from the chief justice.

The Abbottabad commission was slammed by the opposition and legal fraternity which raised questions over its composition and the procedure adopted by the government to constitute it.

Righting its wrong

Critics say the government is attempting to right its previous wrong, hand-picking a sitting Supreme Court judge without consulting the chief justice, through the present commission. Speaking to the media, President Asma Jahangir criticised the way the government made the nomination, arguing that an apex court judge’s appointment without consulting the chief justice was tantamount to violating the judiciary’s independence.

Hand-picking sitting judges at whim is interference in judiciary’s affairs, said Jahangir, adding that the chief justice would have had no issues over the nomination had he been consulted.

The main opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also blamed the government for mishandling the issue by dealing with it casually.

“The government is not serious … the way the whole thing is being handled shows how callous it is,” said PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rasheed in a statement issued to media.

Attempt to defuse tension

The government had agreed to appoint a judge from the country’s top court after an overnight sit-in by journalists on Constitution Avenue, right across the parliament.

Earlier this week, Gilani nominated Federal Shariat Court Chief Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan to lead the probe commission but the move was slammed by associations of media persons.

They demanded that a judge from the Supreme Court must be assigned to lead the investigations of the murder that is widely interpreted as a threat to journalists covering the complex and covert ties between militant groups and Pakistani security establishment.

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