Who will bell the cat… who will dare to take back possession of government’s bullet-proof car from former CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry?

By Iram Salim

(Pak Destiny)  Who will bell the cat? This is a million dollar question with regard to taking back the possession of the government’s bullet-proof car from former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

Where is respect of judiciary which retired justice Chaudhry always talked about and today he is himself defying the rule of law… isn’t strange and surprising for everyone.

He told the Islamabad High Court on last hearing on Dec 5 that he could not surrender the official bulletproof car to the court, saying the security on the premises of the court was not appropriate to keep such an expensive vehicle there. The vehicle is currently parked at the residence of the retired CJP.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC on December 2 had ordered Mr Chaudhry’s counsel to produce the vehicle before the court by December 8 where it would remain parked till the adjudication of the case.

A few days after the retirement of Mr Chaudhry, Justice Siddiqui on January 15, 2014, had directed the federal government to provide the bulletproof car to the ex-CJP along with security staff of Rangers and the Islamabad police.

The vehicle is currently parked at the residence of the retired CJP.

A division bench of the IHC on May 11, 2016, however, set aside the order and remanded the case back to Justice Siddiqui with the direction to decide the matter after hearing all the stakeholders.

During the preliminary hearing on Dec 2, Justice Siddiqui ordered for the production of the car.

Justice Siddiqui in a subsequent order in 2014 had not only extended the possession of the bulletproof car to the ex-CJP for an indefinite period but also directed the law ministry to bear the expense of the car.

In February, the Senate was informed that since January 30, 2014, about 4,689 litres of petrol had been issued to the Mercedes Benz being used by the ex-chief justice.

A repair estimate exceeding Rs3.3 million had also been presented to the law division and funds through a special grant were required from the finance division.

The question arises as why Chaudhry’s son – Arsalan – doesn’t seek help from property tycoon Malik Riaz for buying a new bullet-proof car for his father. After all Riaz earlier claimed to have given Rs340m to Arsalan for his services to quash different property cases against him. Isn’t it a ‘good idea.’  — Pak Destiny

 

A report/analysis on former CJ Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry’s bullet proof car

 

6 Comments

  1. Anjum Sohail Khao Reply
  2. Abdul Ghaffar Khan Reply
  3. Shehzad Jamal Yousafzai Reply
  4. Shaikh Arshad Javaid Reply
  5. Tariq Saeed Reply
  6. Ahmad Nadeem Gehla Reply

Leave a Reply