PROFILE: Iftikhar Chaudhry: Pakistani judge revives hope for justice

Islamabad - Pakistan's reinstated Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry revived hopes for rule of law as he made history on March 24, returning to the courtroom after a 16-month dismissal. Chaudhry is the only Pakistani judge who fought off a military ruler and an all-powerful civilian president - both determined to bend the country's top court to their wishes - and prevailed. 'It's a matter of great satisfaction and a day of thanksgiving to Allah the almighty that after a long period the original court has been restored,' Chaudhry told a packed courtroom. Chaudhry was born to a middle-class family in the south-western city of Quetta in 1948 and studied law at a local university. Following 11 years of legal practice and 20-year as a judge in various courts, he was appointed chief justice of Supreme Court by former military strongman Pervez Musharraf. Within months of his appointment, Chaudhry won a reputation as a man with time and sympathy for the common man, championing individual cases, and working for the upholding of human rights. The cases notably included those of hundreds of missing people believed to have been rounded up without charge by intelligence agencies, the heads of which Chaudhry summoned to the Supreme Court, and cases of women gang raped in police custody. And in a move that raised hackles in government, the court in early 2007 ruled against the privatization of Pakistan Steel Mills to government-connected businessmen, saying that the sale was done with 'indecent haste.' That brought enormous embarrassment for Musharraf's government. The independent-minded judge was seen by the public as a breath of fresh air in a generally corrupt and outmoded justice system. Largely devoid of charisma but seen as a symbolic victim of the military regime's repression, Chaudhry rose on the crest of the outrage in March 2007 when former president Pervez Musharraf dismissed him following his refusal to resign. It was the first time in the 60-year history of the country's Supreme Court that a chief justice was sacked, and it triggered a backlash of public anger and mass protests that caught Musharraf by surprise. Chaudhry's public appearances became the focus of opposition to military rule. He attracted tens of thousands of people when he travelled in a motor caravan from eastern city of Lahore to the capital of Islamabad, forcing Musharraf to accept his restoration by his colleagues in just over four months. But he was removed again from the post, this time together with 60 other judges, on November 3, 2007 under an emergency order when the Supreme Court was due to rule on Musharraf's eligibility to run for re-election as president while remaining the army chief. That sacking, widely criticized internationally, prompted a wider movement for the restoration of democracy and resulted in the defeat of Musharraf's political allies in February 2008 elections. Musharraf was eventually forced to resign by the new civilian coalition government within six months. But the new civilian president, Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, reneged from his early promises to restore Chaudhry - mainly out of fear that the judge might renew graft cases against him. That triggered a new movement by lawyers, rights activists, and civil society. Zardari's coalition partner and two-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whose party left the coalition last year on the issue of Chaudhry's restoration, put his weight behind the campaign early this month. A high point in the movement for independent judiciary came when Sharif led a massive rally from Lahore for a sit-in in Islamabad, forcing the government to reinstate Chaudhry for the second time, in order to avoid chaos in the capital city that could have brought down Zardari's government. Chaudhry, who is seen as a symbol of justice by some but as a sign of conflict with other state institutions by opponents, faces a difficult task ahead. Rasool Bux Raees, a political analyst at Lahore University of Management Sciences, said Chaudhry would have to avoid rulings that could destabilize the government while delivering justice to common people, many of whom see him as a saviour.