The unenviable record of Justice (retd) Dogar
October 28, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Justice (retd) Abdul Hameed Dogar, who is now challenging the Supreme Court, has been involved in many controversial decisions and infamous happenings in the country during his tenure as (unconstitutional) chief justice of Pakistan.
These unlawful cases include jacked up marks of his daughter and the controversy surrounding Rs8.9 million loan; and yet he wants to confront the present Supreme Court. Justice (retd) Dogar betrayed his fellow judges and preferred taking oath under the infamous Provisional Constitutional Order of Pervez Musaharraf on November 3, 2007. His act has been condemned by the Supreme Court in its July 31 decision.
On the eve of imposition of emergence by Musharraf only four SC judges out of 19 took oath under the PCO. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, who was then fourth in the seniority list, was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Pakistan.
On November 6, 2007 the full court bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Dogar declared the verdict of seven judges of the Supreme Court against the proclamation of emergency as null and void. It is worth mentioning here that soon after the proclamation of emergency in the country and issuance of the PCO, a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had rejected the imposition of emergency and ruled that emergency could not be proclaimed and the PCO could not be issued. The 7-member bench had restrained the president and the prime minister from taking any action contrary to the independence of the judiciary but Justice Dogar declared the judgment of the seven judges against the declaration of emergency null and void.
On November 15, 2007, the Dogar-led SC suspended the operation of sentences awarded to Islamabad’s former police and administration officials who were convicted for manhandling the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhamamd Chaudhry. Earlier the apex court had convicted Islamabad former chief commissioner, deputy commissioner, IG, DSP and others in a case of manhandling Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on March 13, when he was going to the court to contest the allegations of misuse of office before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
On November 22, 2007 Dogar once again wrote his name in history books by issuing a clean chit to then dictator, Chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf to contest the Presidential polls in military uniform. Earlier, the Supreme Court had allowed holding of the presidential election on October 6, 2007 directing the Election Commission not to issue the notification of the election results until the petitions were under adjudication before the court.
Dogar once again violated the constitution on November 23, 2007 and as top judge of the country declared the imposition of emergency and promulgation of PCO as justified and held that all steps taken under emergency were valid. The bench held that the emanating situation in the country prior to November 3 was such that emergency could have been enforced. Tikka Iqbal Muhammad Khan and Watan Party’s Barrister Zafrullah had challenged the imposition of emergency and the promulgation of the PCO. The bench, after announcing the verdict, disposed of the petitions.
On February 27, 2008 the apex court led by Dogar quashed the stay order against the notorious National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and restored the authority of courts as well as other concerned offices to hear and decide cases under the said ordinance, promulgated in 2007 which gave blanket cover to corruption committed by politicians and bureaucrats of the country. The same court on October 12, 2007 ruled that beneficiaries could not be entitled to gain any protection of a concluded action under section 6 and 7 under any principle of law, if the court concludes that the ordinance and its provisions are ultra vires of the constitution.
A contempt case against top administrative officers of the capital and former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, for deporting Nawaz Sharif to Jeddah against the decision of the Supreme Court, was pushed under the rugs by the Dogar-led Supreme Court.
During his last days in office, Justice Dogar fixed more cases in the supplementary cause list (important cases) than the final cause list, something rarely seen in the apex courts to provide relief to friends.
Interestingly, a recorded conversation of November 5, 2007 between a top legal aide and one of the key spymasters of Gen (retd) Musharraf exposed how the reversal of historic November 3, 2007 decision of a seven-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was manipulated.
The top legal eagle of the ousted dictator was heard telling the spymaster that the then Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar had informed him about the existence of the formal and duly signed decision of the seven-member bench handed down on November 3, 2007 but that he (Dogar) had concealed it. Dogar, according to the legal aide, had also assured him that the next day (i.e on November 6) he would get the November 3 SC order reversed by a bench comprising eight judges (one more than the earlier seven-member bench headed by CJ Iftikhar).
In the audiotape, Musharraf’s top legal aide is heard assuring the spymaster that Dogar is his man and would do everything as per their desire.
Dogar was also caught in the infamous jacked-up marks case in which his daughter was given a head start over thousands of students. The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) Islamabad illegally awarded extra marks and upgraded the examination results of the daughter of the country’s top judge. In indecent haste and under direct written orders of the chairman FBISE, relaxing and violating all rules and even some judgments of the Supreme Court, the FSc result of Farah Hameed Dogar was jacked up from 640 marks in Grade ‘C’ to 661 marks in Grade ‘B’, thus making her eligible to apply for admission into any medical college in the country.
The defunct Islamabad High Court’s chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam validated the illegally increased marks of the daughter of CJ. To reward Sardar Muhammad Aslam, Justice Dogar elevated him to the Supreme Court soon after his retirement as judge of the high court.
Dogar also influenced the Supreme Court during the Farah Hameed Dogar case as a stay order was issued, suspending the National Assembly Standing Committee’s investigation into the case by Justice Zawar Jafri.
Another controversy involving Justice Dogar surfaced when the National Bank of Pakistan gave him Rs8.9 million loan ignoring the policy and rules under the Saibaan Housing Finance Scheme. The bank’s high-level credit committee approved policy deviations on the grounds that the applicant “is working as Chief Justice of Pakistan.”
These unlawful cases include jacked up marks of his daughter and the controversy surrounding Rs8.9 million loan; and yet he wants to confront the present Supreme Court. Justice (retd) Dogar betrayed his fellow judges and preferred taking oath under the infamous Provisional Constitutional Order of Pervez Musaharraf on November 3, 2007. His act has been condemned by the Supreme Court in its July 31 decision.
On the eve of imposition of emergence by Musharraf only four SC judges out of 19 took oath under the PCO. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, who was then fourth in the seniority list, was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Pakistan.
On November 6, 2007 the full court bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Dogar declared the verdict of seven judges of the Supreme Court against the proclamation of emergency as null and void. It is worth mentioning here that soon after the proclamation of emergency in the country and issuance of the PCO, a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had rejected the imposition of emergency and ruled that emergency could not be proclaimed and the PCO could not be issued. The 7-member bench had restrained the president and the prime minister from taking any action contrary to the independence of the judiciary but Justice Dogar declared the judgment of the seven judges against the declaration of emergency null and void.
On November 15, 2007, the Dogar-led SC suspended the operation of sentences awarded to Islamabad’s former police and administration officials who were convicted for manhandling the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhamamd Chaudhry. Earlier the apex court had convicted Islamabad former chief commissioner, deputy commissioner, IG, DSP and others in a case of manhandling Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on March 13, when he was going to the court to contest the allegations of misuse of office before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
On November 22, 2007 Dogar once again wrote his name in history books by issuing a clean chit to then dictator, Chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf to contest the Presidential polls in military uniform. Earlier, the Supreme Court had allowed holding of the presidential election on October 6, 2007 directing the Election Commission not to issue the notification of the election results until the petitions were under adjudication before the court.
Dogar once again violated the constitution on November 23, 2007 and as top judge of the country declared the imposition of emergency and promulgation of PCO as justified and held that all steps taken under emergency were valid. The bench held that the emanating situation in the country prior to November 3 was such that emergency could have been enforced. Tikka Iqbal Muhammad Khan and Watan Party’s Barrister Zafrullah had challenged the imposition of emergency and the promulgation of the PCO. The bench, after announcing the verdict, disposed of the petitions.
On February 27, 2008 the apex court led by Dogar quashed the stay order against the notorious National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and restored the authority of courts as well as other concerned offices to hear and decide cases under the said ordinance, promulgated in 2007 which gave blanket cover to corruption committed by politicians and bureaucrats of the country. The same court on October 12, 2007 ruled that beneficiaries could not be entitled to gain any protection of a concluded action under section 6 and 7 under any principle of law, if the court concludes that the ordinance and its provisions are ultra vires of the constitution.
A contempt case against top administrative officers of the capital and former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, for deporting Nawaz Sharif to Jeddah against the decision of the Supreme Court, was pushed under the rugs by the Dogar-led Supreme Court.
During his last days in office, Justice Dogar fixed more cases in the supplementary cause list (important cases) than the final cause list, something rarely seen in the apex courts to provide relief to friends.
Interestingly, a recorded conversation of November 5, 2007 between a top legal aide and one of the key spymasters of Gen (retd) Musharraf exposed how the reversal of historic November 3, 2007 decision of a seven-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was manipulated.
The top legal eagle of the ousted dictator was heard telling the spymaster that the then Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar had informed him about the existence of the formal and duly signed decision of the seven-member bench handed down on November 3, 2007 but that he (Dogar) had concealed it. Dogar, according to the legal aide, had also assured him that the next day (i.e on November 6) he would get the November 3 SC order reversed by a bench comprising eight judges (one more than the earlier seven-member bench headed by CJ Iftikhar).
In the audiotape, Musharraf’s top legal aide is heard assuring the spymaster that Dogar is his man and would do everything as per their desire.
Dogar was also caught in the infamous jacked-up marks case in which his daughter was given a head start over thousands of students. The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) Islamabad illegally awarded extra marks and upgraded the examination results of the daughter of the country’s top judge. In indecent haste and under direct written orders of the chairman FBISE, relaxing and violating all rules and even some judgments of the Supreme Court, the FSc result of Farah Hameed Dogar was jacked up from 640 marks in Grade ‘C’ to 661 marks in Grade ‘B’, thus making her eligible to apply for admission into any medical college in the country.
The defunct Islamabad High Court’s chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam validated the illegally increased marks of the daughter of CJ. To reward Sardar Muhammad Aslam, Justice Dogar elevated him to the Supreme Court soon after his retirement as judge of the high court.
Dogar also influenced the Supreme Court during the Farah Hameed Dogar case as a stay order was issued, suspending the National Assembly Standing Committee’s investigation into the case by Justice Zawar Jafri.
Another controversy involving Justice Dogar surfaced when the National Bank of Pakistan gave him Rs8.9 million loan ignoring the policy and rules under the Saibaan Housing Finance Scheme. The bank’s high-level credit committee approved policy deviations on the grounds that the applicant “is working as Chief Justice of Pakistan.”
