Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in town

 

WASHINGTON,  Nov. 25, 2008: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry delivered a lecture on 'Public Interest Litigation in Pakistan' at the Georgetown University Law Center on Monday (Nov. 24). He informed the students about various cases of public interest before he was made dysfunctional on November 3, 2007 for the second time by former army chief and President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf.

 

He presented  copies of detailed judgments of certain important cases to the dean of the Law Center and urged the students to study those cases to understand public interest litigation in Pakistan. These detailed verdicts were composed by CJ Iftikhar and dealt with cases including ban on kite flying in Lahore (capital city of the Punjab province), Margala Tower residents' compensation in Islamabad after the devastating earthquake, an attempt to convert a children's park into a mini golf course, environment protection, an attempt to hand over three little girls to their enemies under a tribal custom called wani t, etc.

 

Earlier, he told the audience that he was made dysfunctional by dictator General Musharraf because he (Musharraf) apprehended that somehow he might lose his legal battle in the Supreme Court as some petitions challenging his legal standing were being heard by the SC justices.

 

He added that he himself and and other judges had no personal interest in those cases against Musharraf except that the administration must adhere to the law. (Text and photos by Rana Fawad)

Click on the images to enlarge.

(L to R) T. Alexander Aleinikoff: Dean of the Law Center; CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry; Athar Minallah, CJ's spokesperson	CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry (left) and his spokesperson Athar Minallah	T. Alexander Aleinikoff: Dean of the Law Center, Georgetown University, Washington DC	(L to R) CJ's spokesperson Athar Minallah, Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff, and CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry	CJ Iftikhar delivering lecture on 'Public Interest Litigation in Pakistan'
CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry	CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry	CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry reading from the copies of detailed judgements on cases of public interest in Pakistan	CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry	CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry
Pakistani lawyers and the community members: frontline in CJ's audience	Another view during the lecture	CJ and audience watching a documentary on Swara	CJ Iftikhar Ch., Executive Diretor PAL-C Taha A. Gaya (second from left) and audience watching a documentary on Swara	CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry
Question and answer session	Question and answer session	Question and answer session	Question and answer session	Question and answer session
Question and answer session	Question and answer session	CJ receiving gift from the host	CJ shaking hands with students

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