By SALMAN MASOOD
Published: June 6, 2012
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The gleaming, marble Supreme Court building in Pakistan’s capital has been the stage for several high-intensity dramas this year, as senior judges have called politicians, government officials and even military commanders to account. But the proceedings on Wednesday saw the court move in an entirely new direction, when the chief justice summoned his own son to answer corruption allegations.
Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry, the son of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has suddenly come under the spotlight after rumors surfaced that he had accepted bribes worth $3 million to $4 million from a powerful real estate tycoon with ties to both the president and the military.
The accusations had placed Mr. Chaudhry, a strong-willed judge whose policy of unchecked judicial activism has targeted officials at the highest levels, in a notably awkward spot. But the court then announced Justice Chaudhry would head a three-justice panel investigating his son’s actions, in what critics are calling a clear conflict of interest. Justice Chaudhry insisted that he would uphold the law and punish his son without favor if he found him guilty.
In a country where conspiracy theories seem to gain steam the more baroque they get, the case has riveted and confused much of the public, in part because the proceedings are based on news media speculation rather than any official complaint.
The news media have been abuzz in recent days over accounts accusing a well-connected developer, Malik Riaz Hussain, of paying for Arsalan Chaudhry to take lavish European vacations and go on shopping sprees in order to curry favor with his father.
But it was Mr. Hussain himself who got the recriminations rolling, according to several accounts; days before, he began meeting with senior television journalists, showing them what he called evidence of the vacations, including credit card statements and videos.
It was unclear why would Mr. Hussain, who oversees a business empire, would implicate himself in such payments. Justice Chaudhry’s supporters are portraying the accusations as part of a carefully planned conspiracy designed to undermine his reputation and, more broadly, the independence of the judiciary.
On Wednesday, Arsalan Chaudhry appeared before the court. Upon arriving, he told reporters that Justice Chaudhry had barred him from their house until the case concludes.
Moments later, he stood to deny any wrongdoing. “Baseless,” he said.
Mr. Hussain was absent from the proceedings; his assistant told the visibly unhappy judges that he was undergoing medical treatment in London. “Have you told him about the court orders?” Mr. Chaudhry asked.
“We have not been able to make contact despite repeated efforts,” the assistant replied.
The judges then summoned Mr. Hussain’s son, Ali Ahmad Riaz, the chief executive of the business empire, only to be told that he, too, was abroad.
The court summoned six officials working for Mr. Hussain’s private housing enterprise, Bahria Town, to determine whether they had evidence against Arsalan Chaudhry. Each, in turn, denied any knowledge.
Next up was Hamid Mir, one of the country’s most popular talk show hosts. He told the court that he had met Mr. Hussain, who showed him documents relating to the corruption allegations. “In my view, it was not hard evidence,” Mr. Mir said.
Mr. Mir then insinuated that the powerful army and intelligence services could be manipulating Mr. Hussain in order to get at Justice Chaudhry for his relentless pursuit of cases related to illegal detention and extrajudicial killings by the security forces. “Now you are going in the right track,” Justice Chaudhry said with a faint smile.
The judges adjourned the hearing until Thursday, directing that Mr. Hussain should appear in person.
The case poses another dramatic challenge to Justice Chaudhry, who over the past six months has become embroiled in political and military scandals, one of which resulted in the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, being convicted of contempt of court. On Monday, Justice Chaudhry took legal action against Interior Minister Rehman Malik that led to his removal from his post because he could not disprove accusations that he held dual Pakistani and British citizenship.
While Mr. Chaudhry has retained much of his popularity with the middle class, his reputation has suffered amid the clashes of recent months, leading to growing accusations of partisanship and arrogance. Now his insistence on bringing proceedings against his son in the absence of established evidence could further hurt his credibility, some analysts said, adding fuel to accusations that he was using the Supreme Court for personal ends.
“The fact is that there is no evidence in the public domain to suggest that Arsalan Chaudhry engaged in any wrongdoing, only unsubstantiated claims by journalists of dubious credibility,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director of Human Rights Watch.
The way in which Mr. Chaudhry presided over the case raised ethical questions and represented a clear conflict of interest, he said, adding, “It is sadly inevitable that such controversial actions will harm Pakistan’s struggle for the rule of law.”
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