At last call, outgoing CJP faces verbal barrage

Former attorney-general and Justice Chaudhry exchange harsh words.

ISLAMABAD:

They say timing is everything.

Former attorney-general Irfan Qadir beat the clock to have his say in front of a man he has never enjoyed the best of relations with: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. In the past, while Qadir has shown flashes of aggression in Courtroom One, he always stopped short of a full-blown exchange.

On Wednesday, however, Qadir seemed to ambush Justice Chaudhry on the last day of his tenure and unleashed a full-blown verbal barrage in front of a judge that has, for years, commanded deference bordering on servility.

The result: On the day Justice Chaudhry was set to bow out, Courtroom One was, perhaps fittingly, witness to yet another storm.

As the outgoing chief justice presided over the hearing of the ‘missing’ persons’ case, an agitated former attorney general Irfan Qadir stood up from his seat in the courtroom and abandoned restraint. He launched into a speech battering on the judiciary for maintaining a ‘biased mindset’ in the hearing against inspector general (IG) of the Frontier Corps (FC).



Justice Chaudhry at once denied giving Qadir the right of audience, but the former attorney general held his ground and refused to take a seat. He demanded a clarification over why the media had termed Justice Chaudhry the ‘star of the judiciary’, and felt that such reporting compromised the rights of his client. He also demanded that the court take action against publications that printed partial statements.

To Qadir’s reference to newspaper reports, Chaudhry said that it was ‘just a coincidence’ that he had not read newspapers on Wednesday morning. But Qadir did not stop at that, and continued to interrupt the proceedings of the ‘missing’ persons’ case.

Finally, Justice Chaudhry, who had had enough by then, announced the permanent cancellation of his licence to practice law.

It was only later, upon the intervention of current Attorney General Munir A Malik that Chaudhry agreed to exercise judicial restraint in this case.

The court asked Qadir to read the rules of discipline before he appears in court and reminded him of his past conduct. Qadir retorted that it is against court discipline to deny giving right of audience to a lawyer.

Despite the court’s demand for an apology, Qadir refused outright and asked the court to proceed against him in a fair trial. The court, however, dropped disciplinary action when Malik begged pardon for Qadir. Malik told the court that Qadir also remained in the office he was currently representing.

‘Recover missing persons’

The court ordered the interior secretary to issue a notification of a new IG FC in the absence of the current inspector general who is in hospital. The court also asked the government to ensure the recovery of ‘missing’ persons and adjourned the case for seven days. Executive authorities were asked to submit a progress report on whether or not FC officials allegedly involved in the enforced disappearances have been made part of investigations.

Justice Chaudhry also reprimanded DIG FC Brigadier Khalid Saleem for not appearing in proper uniform. Saleem attempted to address the court regarding the allegations against the FC, but the court maintained that there was no reason to hear him as he was not commanding the FC.

The court also said that, despite undertakings submitted by FC officials, no recovery has been made effective so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2013.