Summary The notification reflects that the judiciary is a subordinate body of the executive, says CJP.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry expressed his annoyance over the formation of a commission by the government for protecting the National Accountability Bureau from ‘interference’ by ‘outside institutions’.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard a suo motu notice taken by the apex court on the commission’s formation to probe NAB chairman’s letter. The court ordered that concerned documents be presented before the court in order to determine who ordered the commission’s formation.
The chief justice said NAB chairman Fasih Bokhari was already facing contempt charges over his letter to President Asif Ali Zardari, adding that the matter of the commission would also be analysed with the existing charges.
The chief justice said the events surrounding the notification reflected that the government believed the judiciary to be in subordination of the executive.
Joint secretary law told the court that the notification for the formation of the commission, comprising former Supreme Court judges Mukhtar Junejo and Nawaz Abbasi, was issued following the presidential reference, adding that the notification had been withdrawn.
