Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Saturday took suo moto notice of complete strike in Sindh province on the call of stooge PPP leadership against the Supreme Court’s decision in Chairman NAB appointment case. According to media reports, at least three people were killed in incidents of gunfire in Karachi and several others were wounded as a strike called by the USZ puppet party of PPP was being observed across the entire Sindh province on Friday against the Supreme Court’s verdict annulling the appointment of Deedar Shah as NAB chairman. They said that three letters had been written to chief secretary Sindh, chairman Pemra and DG Intelligence Bureau. The chief secretary has been directed to submit complete record that whether or not any action has been registered in respect of the strike against the responsible political leaders and persons. The chief secretary has been asked to submit the record in this regard on Monday.
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Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary |
The court sought whether or not the criminal cases had been registered against the instigator, abettor and the accused persons. The letter to the secretary stated that protecting the life and property of citizens was the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies under Article 9 and 24. The secretary has been asked to submit the estimation of the loss of life and the properties. The chairman Pemra has been ordered to furnish all the electronic TV channels talks show and programmes’ record and the evidence regarding the strike, while the Secretary Sindh Provincial Assembly has been asked to provide the record of MPAs’ speeches in the Assembly session. It needs to be noted that the Supreme Court on March 10 declared the appointment of Justice (Retd) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah as chairman National Accountability Bureau illegal and unconstitutional and ordered him to immediately step down from his position. A three-member bench headed by Justice Javed Iqbal in a short order stated, “For the reasons to be recorded separately, these petitions are accepted and the appointment of Justice (Retd) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah as chairman NAB is hereby declared as illegal and ultra vires and he shall cease to hold said office forthwith.”
President Supreme Court Bar Association Asma Jahagir on Friday said that the court’s judgements were public property and people could criticize these decisions but observing strikes was unacceptable. Staff Reporter from Karachi adds: A constitutional petition was filed in the Sindh High Court on Saturday seeking contempt of court proceedings against the PPP Sindh leadership for criticising the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s judgement in NAB chairman appointment case. The petitioner, Secretary General of United Human Rights Organization Rana Faiz-ul-Hasan, submitted that being citizens of the country, the people and the political parties had constitutional rights to record their protest for their genuine demands but there was a limitation. He submitted that provincial leadership of PPP violating Article 204 of the Constitution not only criticized the Supreme Court’s order but also staged protests against it.
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A bus is burning in Karachi as miscreants of PPP raise havoc in the city |
On March 10, the apex court termed the appointment of Justice (Retd) Deedar Hussain Shah as NAB chairman invalid that was followed by aggressive move by the provincial leadership of PPP, as they criticised the judiciary at their press conferences in the same day. He continued that following the announcement of the SC verdict, the ruling party and the Sindh government announced a complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike across the province. The plaintiff submitted that judiciary had been threatened by the respondents. He added that such disgraceful approach towards rules was not only dishonouring the judiciary but also creating negative impression across the world. He submitted that the judiciary was independent, and it should not be brought under threat by anyone. The Sindh government, PPP Sindh General Secretary Taj Hyder, MPA Sharjeel Memon, Javed Shah, Imdad Pitafi and Aga Taimore were cited as respondents. The petitioner pleaded the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the respondents. Admitting the plea for hearing, the court fixed March 15 as next date of hearing.
