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Chaudhry reinstated, Mush welcomes verdict
Published on Fri, Jul 20, 2007 at 21:39, Updated on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 09:47 in World section
Tags: Pakistan, Chief Justice , New Delhi
TOUGH SCUFFLE: Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Chaudhry but Supreme Court on Friday reinstated him.
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New Delhi: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has welcomed the verdict of the Pakistan Supreme Court reinstating suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry and quashing the Presidential reference of charges against the top judge.
"The President respects the decision of the Supreme Court," Musharraf’s spokesman major General Rashid Qureshi was quoted as saying by the state-run APP news agency.
"The President has stated earlier that any judgement the Supreme Court arrives at will be honoured, respected and adhered to," he added.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri in Islamabad reacted to Chaudhry's reinstatement and what it means for Musharraf.
“It's very stupid to think in terms of victory and defeat because I would say it's a victory for Pakistan's majority. The judgment having been delivered by the SC, the government has not wasted a minute in accepting it. It also shows that Pakistan has very strong institutions, a strong judiciary, a very strong press, very strong civil society organizations. I think this talks a lot that those who were saying that the government would not accept or would think of not accepting it whole-heartedly must remember what President Musharaff had said and has said at least 100 times since the reference was filed: that he would abide by the judgment of the SC,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, the Pakistan Supreme Court reinstated suspended Chief Justice Chaudhry.
Officials said a careful evaluation is being made over the judgment’s implications, which analysts believe could limit powers of Musharraf.
Musharraf had suspended Chaudhry in March 2007 for allegedly misusing his position and benefiting financially from his office.
“The reference has been set aside and the chief justice has been reinstated,” Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, the head of the 13-member bench, said at the conclusion of the two-month-old case.
The court also invalidated the presidential reference against Chaudhry. While the reinstatement order was unanimous, the verdict about the invalidation of the presidential reference was a 10-3 majority decision.
Chaudhry's suspension had sparked protests by lawyers and opposition parties that grew into a powerful pro-democracy movement.
Chaudhry became a symbol of resistance to Musharraf after refusing to quit in the face of pressure from the President and his intelligence chiefs, and was lionised by supporters in rallies round the country.
The Chief Justice's defiance created the greatest challenge to Musharraf since he came to power in a coup eight years ago, and his reinstatement could create problems for Musharraf's plans for re-election for a second five-year term in the coming months.
The judgement perhaps is one of its kind in the history of Pakistan, where the judiciary has been often blamed for playing a second fiddle to the military.
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