Pakistan is in for another battle between the executive and the judiciary as the government mulls sacking the judges it had reinstated in 2009.
Over 60 judges of the high courts and the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, were sacked by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf after an unprecedented row between the judiciary and the executive in 2007. The judges were reinstated by the PPP-led government in 2008.
Speculation about the withdrawal of the notification to restore the Supreme Court judges exploded into a crisis on Thursday night, forcing judges to rush to the Supreme Court late at night and summon a full court hearing on Friday amid strong government denials that no such move was afoot.
A late night press release issued by the Supreme Court informed the nation that it had taken notice of reports on TV and had registered a case to be heard by a full 17-member bench on Friday. The court asked the government to provide details of any notification in this regard.