NYT : Musharraf Loses Fight Over Suspension of Judge

Musharraf Loses Fight Over Suspension of Judge

By SOMINI SENGUPTA | July 21, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 20 — Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled Friday that the suspension of the country’s chief justice earlier this year by President Pervez Musharraf was illegal, dealing the president a strong rebuke and raising new questions about his ability to continue his rule past this year.

The decision, which reinstated the chief justice, was another blow to General Musharraf, who finds himself increasingly beset by Islamic militants and pro-democracy opponents as intelligence agencies in the United States lose confidence in his ability to root out militants from Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

General Musharraf’s critics had accused him of dismissing the chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, so as to install someone more likely to bend to his authority as the general was expected to face critical legal challenges this year to his continued rule as president and army chief of staff.

The chief justice surprised many, including General Musharraf, by challenging his dismissal, turning a pre-emptive move by the president into a watershed for the nation. Mr. Chaudhry has since become a rallying point for Pakistanis increasingly frustrated with nearly seven and a half years of military rule.

No sooner had the verdict been read out late Friday afternoon and the 13-member bench filed out, than Courtroom No. 1, packed full, exploded into revelry. Supporters fell upon Mr. Chaudhry’s chief counsel, Aitzaz Ahsan, crushing one another in a joyous scrum — a rare sight in modern-day Pakistan. They poured out of the courtroom, quivering with delight. “Mubarak,” they said to one another, Urdu for congratulations. “Pakistan is saved,” one man shouted.

“It’s a big blow to the Musharraf regime,” Mr. Ahsan declared afterward as he milled with supporters in the backyard of Mr. Chaudhry’s house. “It’s a big blow to dictatorship.”

There was no comment on Friday from General Musharraf, though the office of the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, promptly issued a statement saying all Pakistanis ought to “accept the verdict with grace and dignity reflective of a mature nation.”

The ruling now seems likely to bear not only on the fate of the president, but also on Washington’s strategy of backing him as the linchpin of its fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the region.

Already a United States intelligence report concluded that Al Qaeda continued to find sanctuary in Pakistan’s tribal areas, and suggested that military strikes on Pakistani territory could not be ruled out if Pakistan did not show greater results.

Meanwhile, General Musharraf’s decision to raid a pro-Taliban mosque in the capital earlier this month has stoked the fury of Islamist extremists, who rejected a peace deal with the government this week and unleashed a spate of attacks, including suicide bombings, that have left more than 100 people dead.

Now the court decision has given a new boost to the pro-democracy forces arrayed against General Musharraf.

Mr. Chaudhry did not appear in court on Friday, nor did he comment publicly. In the evening, as his staff doled out traditional sweets, he stepped momentarily out of his house to greet supporters and quickly went back inside. Shortly thereafter, after the pack of journalists had thinned out, he came out again and embraced his well-wishers one by one.

The case, or reference, as it is known, against Mr. Chaudhry centered on charges of misconduct, including demanding a later-model Mercedes as his official car. Mr. Chaudhry refused to resign, insisting that he was innocent.

He then challenged his suspension in the Supreme Court, arguing that Pakistan’s Constitution gave neither the president nor the military chief the power to remove the chief justice. His supporters seized on it as a battle for judicial independence.

In the opinion, the court ruled unanimously that the president had exceeded his constitutional authority by placing Mr. Chaudhry on “compulsory leave” and acted illegally by suspending him from the post of chief justice and installing an acting chief justice. Ten of the 13 members ruled that Mr. Chaudhry should be reinstated.

General Musharraf, who took power in a coup in 1999, is now likely to be challenged in the Supreme Court if he seeks to be re-elected president while continuing to hold the title of army chief of staff. He is also likely to face a legal challenge if he insists on being re-elected by the sitting Parliament before his term expires this year. Under Pakistan’s system, the president is elected by the four provincial assemblies as well as Parliament.

The Supreme Court verdict, combined with the concern about Pakistan’s efforts to combat militancy, do more than bruise General Musharraf’s image, said Teresita C. Schaffer, director of the South Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which is based in Washington. They also present him and the army with “shrinking political options as they struggle to reassert control and maintain internal security.”

“Musharraf faces an unpleasant choice: either to undertake a period of authoritarian rule (he has said he won’t) or to take his chances on an electoral process that has become much more uncertain for him,” Ms. Schaffer said in a commentary published on the center’s Web site. “Neither path is a sure winner for him.”

Even if the chief justice now recuses himself from the cases involving the president, it would not necessarily make things easier for General Musharraf’s election plans, when challenged in court. “The fact is, it has strengthened the hand of judiciary,” said Talat Masood, a retired general and a political commentator. “They will try to do justice. They know they have support of the people.”

In several Pakistani cities over the last few months, thousands rallied to Mr. Chaudhry’s cause, showering the justice with rose petals and calling for the general’s ouster. Street clashes erupted in Karachi last May, leaving 39 dead in a weekend-long spurt of violence.

Opposition party members — cadres from both the political left and right had seized on the judicial crisis — were arrested. Private television stations that broadcast news of the crisis faced pressure to curb coverage, and some had their cable transmissions blocked. The news media crackdown prompted even more protests, forcing the government to rescind the restrictions last month.

Then, earlier this week, came an explosion at a rally here in Islamabad, where Mr. Chaudhry was scheduled to speak, killing 17 people.

Asma Jehangir, chairwoman of Pakistan’s National Human Rights Commission and one of Pakistan’s best known lawyers, described Friday’s verdict as much more than a victory for judicial independence. The ruling, she said, restored hope to her country.

“People had given up,” she said amid embraces outside the courtroom. “They thought the military was invincible, unshakeable, that no one could stand up to them. Well, people have stood up to them.”

A fellow lawyer handed her a small Pakistani flag, which she took with a smile.

“It is a message that a dictator cannot get away with everything anymore,” she went on. “It’s a very happy change for Pakistan.”

Salman Masood contributed reporting.