Dogar, who was sworn in by Musharraf as the Chief Justice of the apex court shortly after the imposition of emergency on Saturday, said in a statement that the court had not passed any order against the Provisional Constitutional Order issued by the military ruler to suspend the Constitution and fundamental rights.
Re-election case
The order issued by Chaudhry and six other judges was the last act of defiance before they were removed from the Supreme Court by security forces. They also refused to endorse the Provisional Constitutional Order.
Dogar said the roster of cases issued by Chaudhry had been “cancelled” and a revised roster would be issued. Among the cases that have been cancelled is the legal challenge to Musharraf’s re-election in uniform in the October six presidential poll.The statement said that “those judges of the Supreme Court who are not invited to take the oath (under the PCO) would cease to hold office and cannot exercise any judicial or administrative power”. Dogar also removed the Supreme Court’s registrar Faqeer Hussain from his office and sent him to the Law Commission. Dogar appointed additional registrar Sara Saeed as the acting registrar of the apex court.
Before his appointment, Dogar was part of the 11-member bench that was hearing petitions challenging Musharraf’s candidature in the presidential election.
Chaudhry was at the centre of a confrontation between the judiciary and Musharraf since the military ruler first tried to dismiss him in March. He was later reinstated by the apex court in July.The order annulling the emergency issued by Chaudhry and the six other judges - including Justices Rana Bhagwandas, Nasir-ul-Mulk and Javed Iqbal - had restrained Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and civil and army officials from taking any steps that would affect the independence of the judiciary.
The judges had remained in the Supreme Court till late in the evening though the court never assembles on a Saturday. Copies of the order were sneaked to journalists waiting outside though troops had surrounded the area by the afternoon.Media reports said a majority of judges of the Supreme Court and provincial High Courts had refused to take oath under the PCO. Only four of the judges of the apex court took the oath while only four of the 28 judges of the Sindh High Court took the oath, The News daily reported.Sixteen of the 31 judges of the Punjab High Court refused to join the new set-up while six judges of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) High Court too refused to take oath under the PCO.
Judicial activism
Musharraf referred to the dragging legal battle against his re-election as one of the reasons for his decision to impose emergency in an address to the nation late on Saturday night.
He also made pointed references to the way the security forces and government officials had been “demoralised” and “humiliated” due to “judicial activism”.