Doing politics: SC petitioned against pension, perks of former chief justice

Petitioner says no political activist can draw the pension of a judge

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has been petitioned to stop pension and all perks enjoyed by former top judge of the country, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, because he has entered politics by launching his own party.



Chief Justice (retd) Chaudhry launched his Pakistan Justice Democratic Critic Party (PJDCP) on December 25, 2015 ‘to solve people’s problems’.

A petitioner, Shahid Orakzai, filed a constitutional petition under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution, arguing that Chaudhry is no more a retired judge of the apex court in the eyes of the Constitution and the law and is not entitled to pension under Article 205.

 

“Instruct the registrar to stop the payment of pension and recover any sum commuted in advance for any period after December 25, 2015,” says the petition on Saturday.



The petitioner questioned whether a judge of the Supreme Court is entitled to any remuneration under Article 205 after he forms or joins a political party, functioning under the Political Parties Order, 2002. “No political activist can draw the pension of a judge of the Supreme Court… The pension is to be paid to an old judge [rather] than a new politician.”

The petition said the launch of a party two years’ after his retirement did indicate Chaudhry’s adherence to the constitutional provisions. “But he may have misread the conditions imposed by the Constitution on the judges or, seemingly, intermixed them with restrictions on retiring civil servants,” the petition pointed out.



Petitioner said no person could be a politician and a judge at the same time. Any person who acquires a position under the Political Parties Order, 2002, can no more be treated as a retired judge of the Supreme Court.  “The terms and conditions of Article 205 will not apply to him and his family thereafter,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2016.