Bulletproof vehicle: Court orders ex-CJP to submit car by December 8

Former top judge was given an armoured car after his political party’s spokesperson petitioned court

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed that the bulletproof car, provided to former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, should be produce the court as case property by December 8.

Meanwhile, the court also allowed petitioners Sheikh Ahsanuddin and Taufiq Asif to file an application seeking interim relief in the case.

On May 11, a division bench of the IHC had set aside Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui‘s verdict ordering the government to provide a bulletproof car and security to the former CJP.

While allowing the federal government’s Intra-Court Appeal (ICA), filed for reclaiming the bulletproof car from the former CJP, the court had remanded the case back to the single bench with directions to hear all the parties and decide the case.

After the decision of the division bench, Justice Siddiqui started case proceedings afresh and issued notices to the ministry of interior, ministry of law and justice, and the cabinet secretary with directions to submit replies in the case.

Sheikh Ahsanuddin, who is the spokesperson of the newly-established political party of former CJP Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, had previously argued before the court that the former CJP needs security, especially in the wake of attacks at courts in Quetta and Mardan.

In light of the attacks, he argued that the security threats have increased to manifold.

In January 2014, Justice Siddiqui had ordered that the “former chief justice shall be provided foolproof security along with possession of the aforementioned bulletproof car for his and his family’s use without placing any time limit.”

However, the Cabinet Division had subsequently issued a notification which said that the vehicle would only be provided to the former CJP for three months. In the ICA, the appellants – the cabinet and law secretaries – had maintained that they were not a party in the petition which led to the decision of providing the armoured car to the ex-CJP.

Additional Attorney General (AAG) Afnan Karim Kundi had argued that there was no precedent for providing a retired chief justice with a bulletproof car. If the practice was allowed, Kundi contended, it would not only open the door for all retired judges of the superior judiciary to seek the same, but would also be discriminatory under Article 25 of the Constitution.

Kundi had argued that it should not appear as if judges are being favoured simply for being judges.

Though, the former CJP himself has not asked for security, Ahsanuddin and Asif – in their personal capacity – have remained engaged in a legal battle demanding the taxpayer-funded bulletproof car.

The court will take up the case on December 8.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2016.