Judicial Crisis during Musharraf Regime: An Analysis

Abstract

The objective of this study is to highlight the judicial crises during Musharraf regime
1999-2008. This study focuses on the decisions of the government regarding the
judiciary during Musharraf regime (1999-2008). The October 1999 coup of General
Pervez Musharraf and the suspension of the 1973 Constitution and the imposition of
emergency were validated by the judiciary under the law of necessity. The military
takeover put the judiciary under pressure. Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, took some
bold steps of public interest litigation which were seen as a threat to Musharraf’s
military rule and as a result, Iftikhar Chaudhry was deposed by Musharraf. But the
judiciary tried to reverse the trend through judicial activism and challenged the extraconstitutional steps of the military dictator. This was a sensational episode in the
judicial history of Pakistan. A countrywide lawyers’ movement was launched for the
restoration of judiciary and the end of military rule. The movement succeeded in the
restoration of the judiciary and the culmination of military rule. This can be termed as
the re-emergence of judiciary in a military led political environment.