Tension rises between outgoing CJ, FC counsel

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Outgoing Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on Wednesday got into a heated exchange with the Frontier Corps inspector general’s lawyer while hearing a contempt of court case against the officer.
“I will not present my client in front of a political institution,” lawyer Irfan Qadir said, referring to newspaper articles that said the judiciary had increasingly become politicised.
Chaudhry, whose tenure as chief justice ended on December 11, remarked that the lawyer should have apologised and the court was showing patience at the request of Attorney General of Pakistan Munir Malik.
“Qadir is interfering in the court’s business and his licence can be suspended,” he said.
The lawyer responded by saying that the court could go ahead and cancel his licence.
The FC inspector general has refused to appear in the court despite several summons issued in connection with a case of 35 “missing persons” or people detained without charge by security agencies.
During the hearing, Chaudhry was visibly frustrated by the lawyer’s remarks and said, “We are not sitting here and playing games.”

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