Pak Chief Justice begins proceedings against his son in graft case

[Shah-i-Kot]

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chann...graft-case-154


Pak Chief Justice begins proceedings against his son in graft case

• June 6, 2012
• By Shafqat Ali
• DC
• Islamabad

Pakistan's Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry (File image-wikimedia commons)

Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Wednesday said that his son will be punished according to the law if found guilty of corruption.
Chief Justice’s son Arslan Iftikhar has been accused of massive corruption using his father’s status.
Media reports said about Arslan Iftikhar allegedly receiving millions of rupees from the property developer Bahria Town management.
Late on Tuesday night, Chief Justice Chaudhry took suo moto notice of the media reports and summoned his son to the court on Wednesday.
A three-member bench headed by the Chief Justice heard the case. The bench included Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif.
The CJ asked the TV anchorpersons to bring the material on the next hearing on which they conducted their programmes.
During the hearing the court asked for complete record of the Bahria Town Company. The court also asked the Chief Executive and the Chairman of Bahria Town to be present on Thursday along with the relevant record.
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Arslan Iftikhar arrived at the SC building with his lawyer Sardar Ishaq Advocate. Business tycoon Malik Riaz, the owner of the Bahria Town, was absent, his Principal Staff Officer said he could not be contacted as he has gone to UK for treatment.
At the outset of the proceedings, the CJ remarked that if Arslan Iftikhar was found to be involved in the scam the law will talk its course.
On this, Attorney General Irfan Qadir said to the Chief Justice that he cannot be part of the bench.
The CJ replied that the court is aware of the code of conduct but it is a matter of the honour of the institution.
The AG, while addressing the CJ said, “You are getting emotional on the matter that is why I am of the view that the chief justice should not sit in the bench”. Justice Jawwad Khawaja observed that “we do not need to get emotional”.
The electronic and social media have in the last few days been rife with reports about Arslan Iftikhar allegedly receiving millions of rupees from the Bahria Town management under different pretexts in order to influence the apex court in favour of Bahria Town cases pending with the SC.
There were also allegations that the Bahria Town management financed multiple foreign trips taken by Arslan Iftikhar and the CJ's family members and also paid for hotel and rented accommodation and cars.
Additionally, there were reports of Arslan Iftikhar received about Rs 340 million in different heads from Malik Riaz.
Later, the hearing of the suo moto notice of graft case involving the son of Chief Justice Chaudhry was adjourned till Thursday.
Meanwhile, CJ Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry’s son Arslan Iftikhar said his father has forced him to leave home till the verdict.
Talking to reporters outside his residence, Arslan Iftikhar said he was innocent and denied all allegations levelled against him.
Senior journalist Shaheen Sehbai has claimed that Arslan Iftikhar received up to Rs 400 million plus sponsored trips to London during 2009, 2010 and 2011 with credit cards to be used abroad by him and his family from the property tycoon.
Mr Sehbai said that he had received this information from a 'very credible source'.
“The person who gave money to the CJP’s son has admitted to it. They have documented everything. The CJP’s son has also accepted receiving the money in his private gatherings and is even ready to go to jail”, he added.
However, Mr Sehbai said that the detail of the business for which this huge amount of money was given to the CJP’s son is still unknown.

[Shah-i-Kot]

whoever brought about this situation has gravely made a mistake. This Iftakhar Chaudry will imprison his own son to make an example of him.

If the filthy slave army and government are behind this, they miscalculated. I expect him to further expose their slavery to the West.


Making all the stuff he knows public is very easy for him to do and unlike anyone else, he has enough clout and power to do so. He was the first one to inquire about missing persons in Balochistan.

He also has allowed petitions against the restoration of NATO supplies. His got a whole bench and 100s of lawyers backing him as well as Imran Khan.

[Shehbaz Khan]

If he is guilty he must be punished as said by the Chief Justice himself. He did a great job by taking action against his son himself and than getting away from the bench.

[Shah-i-Kot]

The reports are saying now that because he is taking action against the criminals and fraudsters, that some foreign interests are trying to slander him in hopes of keeping the status quo in place.

It is also because he has a case on file to keep the NATO ground supplies permanently blocked by court order as well as close the airspace by court order in the public interests.

Courts are allowed to act in the public interest.

So they have alreaya few pending cases that he can proceed with anytime which he probably will do in regards to the airspace even before Imran takes over

[Shah-i-Kot]

Imran sees bid to undermine judiciary our correspondent Sunday, June 10, 2012 Fro

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-15263-Imran-sees-bid-to-undermine-judiciary

Imran sees bid to undermine judiciary


our correspondent
Sunday, June 10, 2012
From Print Edition




KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has said that the revelations coming out in the Arslan Iftikhar case clearly show a deliberate attempt to undermine the Supreme Court.

In a statement, Imran said that the sequence of events clearly show that the target of the entire conspiracy was the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Unnerved by the strong and courageous decisions of the Supreme Court, the ruling mafia decided to damage his image. Since the CJ himself is incorruptible and a man of high integrity, he said, those wanting to weaken him chose to target his son.

While much of the evidence is yet to come out, said the PTI chairman, it has been admitted by Riaz Malik according to newspaper reports that he paid or vacations and shopping sprees of Arsalan Iftikhar.

Why did he do this, asked Khan? The CJ’s son was not working for Riaz Malik and had no business relations with him. The only reason this was done was to entrap him and then blackmail or undermine the integrity of the chief justice, said Imran Khan.

This is further established by the fact that all the receipts of the transactions and reportedly some video clips were carefully retained. If there was no ulterior motive, said the PTI chairman, then why was this incriminating evidence against the CJ’s son being collected?

There is little doubt, Khan said, that this was a well thought out conspiracy to defame the CJ and the Supreme Court, and Malik Riaz played a central role in it. He said Arsalan Iftikhar also has much to explain, and if evidence establishes that he accepted favours by making promises of influencing his father, then he must bear the consequences.

The chief justice has done the right thing by deciding not to hear the case himself. The truth will surely come out. But facts reported in the media clearly show that Riaz Malik’s intent was not to buy influence but only to compromise the chief justice’s son and use this later to defame the judiciary.

We know, Imran Khan said, who is the real instigators behind Riaz Malik’s conspiracy. He is just a pawn in the hands of the corrupt Zardari/Gilani cabal ruling the country that is threatened by an independent judiciary. It has long been seeking to undermine it in whatever way possible. He said Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf will stand with the independent judiciary and would thwart any attempt to malign the CJ and the Supreme Court.

Central Secretary Information Shafqat Mahmood said that the Arsalan Iftikhar story as revealed in the media is a clear attempt to malign the superior judiciary and, in particular, the chief justice of the Supreme Court. He said that the ruling cabal has been frightened by the independent and courageous decisions taken by the Supreme Court and hatched a plot to undermine the chief justice.

The principle characters in this conspiracy are without a doubt Asif Ali Zardari, Yusuf Raza Gilani and Riaz Malik. It is well known that the owner of Bahria Town is closely aligned with Mr Zardari, and the two are in fact business partners. They conspired together to put pressure on the chief justice by entrapping his son.

The story given out by Riaz Malik that he was being blackmailed by Arsalan Iftikhar is disinformation. Neither was it an attempt to influence the Supreme Court. It was a deliberate plan to compromise Arsalan Iftikhar and use the incriminating evidence at an appropriate time to undermine the Supreme Court.

This is not to say that Arsalan Iftikhar should not be investigated and evidence brought out in public. If it is proved that his conduct was not above board, and he did indeed accept favours, he should bear the consequences. But, sins of the son, if any, cannot be visited upon the father. There is no evidence linking the honourable chief justice with any questionable activity of his son.

Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf stands with the Supreme Court and will thwart any attempt to undermine its integrity and that of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.