Islamabad-Focal person of Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party has challenged a verdict of a single bench of Islamabad High Court in which the court had directed former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary to produce the bulletproof vehicle in the court by December 8.
The focal person Sheikh Ahsanuddin Advocate moved the Intra-Court Appeal (ICA) and cited Interior Ministry, Defence Ministry, Law Ministry, Cabinet Division and chief secretaries of all the four provinces as respondents.
He adopted in the ICA that there are life threats to the former chief justice and therefore, the vehicle should not be taken back till the final adjudication of this matter. Sheikh also added that there is no place to park the vehicle at the IHC premises. Therefore, he requested the court to declare the IHC single bench’s verdict dated December 2 as null and void.
On the last hearing, a single bench of IHC comprising Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had directed to produce the vehicle on the next date of hearing to be held on December 8.
Earlier, a division bench of the IHC comprising Justice Noor-ul-Haq N Qureshi and Justice Aamer Farooq had allowed Intra Court Appeal (ICA) of the federal government against a January 15, 2014 order of an IHC single bench regarding provision of bulletproof vehicle to the former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), Justice (Retd) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
The IHC division had directed single bench to decide the matter after hearing from both the sides.
IHC single member bench comprising Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on January 15, 2014 had directed federal government to provided bulletproof vehicle to the former CJP. Federal government in its ICA had adopted before the IHC that single bench issued the said order without hearing them.
Sheikh Ahsanuddin advocate who is focal person of the Pakistan Justice & Democratic Party headed by Iftikhar Chaudhry and on whose petition the IHC single member bench had ordered for provision of vehicle to Justice Chaudhry had been arguing in this matter that the ministry of interior itself through a letter had informed the former CJP regarding security threats to his life.
On January 15, 2014 Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC had directed federal government to provide Justice Chaudhry with security at par with the former prime ministers of Pakistan after he was informed by a joint secretary cabinet division Ziaul Haq that the federal government has provided bullet proof cars to the three former premiers including Ch Shujaat Hussain, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani and Raja Pervez Ashraf, while no former President has been provided with the bullet-proof cars.