Suspension and reinstatement of the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry,

Suspension and reinstatement of the Chief Justice
On 9 March 2007, Musharraf suspended the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, pressing corruption charges against him and filed a reference against the Chief Justice, in the Supreme Judicial Council according to Article 209(2) and Article 209(5)(b) of the Constitution of Pakistan. Thus on 13 March 2007, when the Supreme Judicial Council met, it was headed by Acting Chief Justice Javed Iqbal.

Text of presidential reference against Chief Justice included:

1- There are complaints of orders being verbally announced in open court in favour of one party and subsequently a written order at variance from the order announced in court being delivered. Two such cases have acquired particular notoriety. In one of these two cases it is alleged that amounts as large as Rs.55million may have been involved.

2- Chief Justice had intimidated civil servants, including pressuring an administrator, to influence by his position to gain undue advantage by "insisting" on an increase and enhancement in his entitlements or in securing the relaxation of the rules in that respect.

3- Chief Justice influenced government offices to promote his son's career. On 22 June 2005 Dr. Arsalan Iftikhar was appointed as Medical Officer/Demonstrator in the Institute of Public Health, Quetta.

4- Chief Justice Chaudhry had received hundreds of thousands of rupees for reimbursement of gasoline for his car. The receipts he submitted were for a pump that only sold diesel fuel. Chief Justice had claimed reimbursement for airfare for his wife and children when he was not entitled to claim it.

5- Chief Justice had arranged for the allotment of a plot of land in Karachi to which he was not entitled.

Musharraf's moves sparked protests among Pakistani lawyers. On 12 March 2007, lawyers started Judicial Activism across Pakistan and began boycotting all court procedures in protest against the suspension. In Islamabad, as well as other cities such as Lahore, Karachi and Quetta, hundreds of lawyers dressed in black suits attended rallies, condemning the suspension as unconstitutional. Slowly the expressions of support for the ousted Chief Justice gathered momentum and by May, protesters and opposition parties took out huge rallies against Musharraf and his tenure as army chief was also challenged in the courts.

On 20 July, the Supreme Court reinstated Chaudhry. Delivering the court's verdict, presiding Judge Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday said: "The reference [against Mr Chaudhry] has been set aside and the chief justice has been reinstated."

"The president respects the decision of the Supreme Court," Gen Musharraf's spokesman was quoted as saying by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan. "The president has stated earlier that any judgement the Supreme Court arrives at will be honoured, respected and adhered to," the spokesman said.

“I would like to emphasise that we must all accept the verdict with grace and dignity reflective of a mature nation" Shaukat Aziz accepted Supreme Court verdict . All Federal ministers and senior Pakistan Muslim League leaders said the government had accepted the Supreme Court’s verdict to reinstate the chief justice of Pakistan .

PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari also has reportedly refused to reinstate the sacked chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, apparently due to the fear that the latter, if reinstated, might reopen for adjudication cases on the National Reconciliation Order. During a meeting of leaders of the ruling coalition in Lahore on 23 July 2008, Zardari repeatedly insisted on not reinstating Chaudhry, reported the Daily Times.