Abbottabad raid case hearing adjourned till Nov 26

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, while hearing the case related to media coverage of the Abbottabad raid, said on Tuesday that the Supreme Court has the final authority in decision making and called for the president’s article published in a US newspaper after the US operation, Geo News reported.

A three-member bench headed by the chief justice was hearing the petition filed by Advocate Sardar Ghazi in June against media reporting after the US raid in Abbottabad that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May last year. The petitioner is seeking ban on media for criticizing the armed forces, intelligence agencies and other defence and security institutions.

During the hearing, Sardar Ghazi’s lawyer Raja Irshad told the court that Army respects the court and has implemented all its orders. Replying to this, the chief justice remarked, ‘yes, we have witnessed it yesterday. Our position is very clear and no one should have any kind of doubts.’

On this, Raja Irshad alleged that the media has brought the chief justice and army chief face to face.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry questioned that what happened against Pakistan’s security and who did what. ‘President’s article was published in a US newspaper after the Abbottabad operation, keep that article before you and then tell us what happened,’ CJ said.

The chief justice then summoned President Zardari’s article that was read out by Raja Irshad.

Later, the court instructed the petitioner to gather all the statements of former ambassador Husain Haqqani and ISPR and adjourned the hearing till November 26.

On Monday, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohamamd Chaudhry stated that as a guardian and protector of the Constitution of Pakistan, a heavy responsibility lies upon the judges of the Supreme Court to uphold the canons of constitutional predominance and its supremacy over all other institutions and authorities.

"Gone are the days when stability and security of the country was defined in terms of number of missiles and tanks as a manifestation of hard power available at the disposal of the State," the chief justice said while addressing the participants of the seventh management course here.

He said the concept of national security has been redefined as a polity wherein a State is bound to provide its citizens with overwhelming, social security and welfare nets and to protect their natural and civil rights at all costs.

The chief justice stressed that a well-trained and high spirited bureaucracy was needed to run the state institutions besides tackling the social and economic challenges.

He said the composition, powers and jurisdiction of the Supreme Court are set out by the Constitution itself.