Judiciary has blocked way of military intervention

The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday said there would be no military takeover and it would not be allowed.“Every decision would be taken in line with the Constitution; and the current situation is favourable for democracy,” Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry declared while leading a nine-member bench on the memogate scandal.The chief justice remarked that the judiciary has blocked the way of a military intervention after delivering its July 31, 2009 verdict against the imposition of state of emergency by Pervez Musharraf on Nov.3, 2007.He said that even the parliament had refused to validate the steps taken by a dictator. He assured that the Supreme Court judges were here to protect and preserve the Constitution.Chaudhry said that submission of replies by Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Ahmed Shuja Pasha bear testimony to the judiciary’s achievement. “We are only concerned about the facts of the memogate case. We will have to examine its origin and objective.” The court turned down Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s reply on the Dec.1 new conference in which a group of federal ministers led by former law minister Babar Awan subjected the judiciary to a severe attack after it had held the preliminary hearing on the memogate. The bench directed Attorney General Maulvi Anwaarul Haq to submit a comprehensive reply as the one he had submitted earlier was vague. The court said that it found the press conference contemptuous to it. Haq said Gilani had termed the news conference a stance of his Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and not that of the government. He read Gilani’s statement to the court that said: the statements made by Awan and some federal ministers at the news conference reflected the historical perspective and did not mean to ridicule the judiciary. Another member of the bench, Justice Nisar said that the parliament is performing its duties and the apex court cannot be stopped from carrying out its constitutional responsibilities.