Pak denies plans to file charges against judges
Pakistan has refuted reports that it was planning to file charges against four Supreme Court judges who were part of the full bench hearing the petition of suspended chief justice Iftikar M Chaudhry.
Pakistan has refuted reports that it was planning to file charges against four Supreme Court judges who were part of the full bench hearing the petition of suspended chief justice Iftikar M Chaudhry.
Referring to a report that the government was planning to probe the four judges' activities, Law Minister Wasi Zafar said there were neither any plans to file any reference against more judges nor anything is under consideration in the Law Ministry.
"The news item has been published in an attempt to discredit and defame the government for some ulterior motives," Zafar said in a statement in Islamabad.
The minister said that after incorporation of a provision through the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, the judiciary itself has the authority and power to file a reference against a judge of the superior court.
But the case of the chief justice or any other member of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which conducted trial against the charges against judges is, however, different.
Federal Law Secretary Mansoor Ahmad also said the news item appearing in a section of the press regarding filing of reference against four other judges of the Supreme Court had been published despite his categorical denial that nothing was under consideration regarding filing of reference against any other judge.
"The same item has misquoted me as if I have not specifically and categorically denied the filing of reference against other judges," he said in a press release issued in Islamabad.