COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Crisis deepens in Pakistan

Pakistani President Farooq Ahmed Leghari today accused the government of orchestrating an assault on the supreme court, ordered the army to protect the chief justice and demanded a misconduct hearing be launched against a rebellious supreme court judge.

In a strongly-worded letter, Leghari blamed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government for yesterday's mob assault on the supreme court that caused the chief justice to adjourn a contempt of court case against him and flee for safety.

"There can be no greater evidence of the dismal failure of your government's administration than that provided by the unprecedentedly shameful events of the last two days,'' Leghari said in his letter to the prime minister.

Sharif was not immediately available for comment, but analysts said the letter deepened a political crisis that has paralysed the country for the past two weeks and caused deep rifts in the 17-member supreme court bench.

Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, locked in a fierce power struggle with Sharief, has come under fire from five other supreme court judges, who say he was promoted out of turn ahead of other, more senior judges.

Supreme court judge Saiduzzaman Siddiqi has called 15 of the 17 judges on the supreme court to meet on Monday to decide whether Shah was wrongly promoted.

Constitutional lawyers were divided over whether Siddiqi has the authority to order the hearing.

Shah, however, accused him of being rebellious. He ordered Siddiqi charged with misconduct and the president, in his letter, stood by the chief justice.

Leghari has told the prime minister to begin misconduct proceedings against Siddiqi.

The case, he said, would be heard by the supreme judicial council, comprised of the two most senior supreme court justices and two most senior provincial high court justices and the chief justice.

Yesterday Shah wrote to Leghari seeking army protection after an unruly mob stormed the supreme court.

Leghari agreed ordering that the army be deployed outside the supreme court building and outside the homes of the five judges hearing the contempt case against Sharief.

In view of the continuing gravity of the law and order situation prevailing today, the chief justice of Pakistan is more than justified in expressing his total lack of trust and faith in the ability of your atdministration to provide security in Islamabad for the smooth and lawful running of the supreme court of Pakistan,'' Leghari's letter said.

The mob appeared to be led by the student wing of Sharief's Pakistan Muslim League and included lawmakers from the provincial and national assemblies.

Police stood by as demonstrators shouting slogans against Shah surged through the gates, set off firecrackers and roughed up several journalists and opposition politicians. Leghari called the attack on the supreme court disgraceful and premeditated."

Earlier, Shah had asked Leghari to file a reference petition against the next senior-most judge Saiduzzaman Siddiqui before the supreme judicial council.

The chief justice said Justice Siddiqui had exceeded his jurisdiction in passing an administrative order to take control of the apex court. He also asked the president to file reference petitions against two more supreme court judges.

''Justice Siddiqui's action smacks of defiance and rebellion and amounts to misconduct, calling for action by the supreme judicial council,'' he said.

In a related development, the Lahore registry of the supreme court declined to entertain a constitutional petition challenging Justice Shah's appointment. Justice Munawar Mirza asked the petitioner to approach the principal seat in Islamabad.

A full supreme court bench is scheduled to hear the constitutional validity of Justice Shah's appointment as chief justice on Monday.

The chief justice said Justice Siddiqui and two other judges called a full court meeting without any legal authorisation from him.

While the contempt case against Sharief is still pending before a five-judge bench, the same bench is scheduled to start hearing on the petition seeking the court's order to stop Justice Khalil-ur Rehman of the Peshawar bench from discharging his judicial functions.

Justice Rehman, who presided over the Peshawar bench of the apex court which suspended the chief justice, is accused of having political affiliations.

The petition against Rehman has been filed by a former Peshawar high court judge Ahmad Saeed Awan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Information Minister Mushahid Hussain has sought to dismiss yesterday's mob invasion of the supreme court, saying that people assembled outside the court out of curiosity. Commenting on the incident, Hussain told the BBC last night that Sharief's government has already ordered an inquiry and plans to severely punish the culprits.

The government has also apologised to Justice Shah. But Hussain's repeated profession of a ''great respect for the judiciary'' sounded like a tongue-in-cheek apology especially when he said that the people had gone to the court only out of curiosity.

Tell us what you think of this report