ISLAMABAD, July 20: The Supreme Court on Friday reinstated Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry in a major setback for President Gen Pervez Musharraf. Here is a chronology of events in the crisis:
March 9: Gen Musharraf summons the chief justice to his army residence in Rawalpindi and asks him to resign over allegations of misconduct. The chief justice refuses. Gen Musharraf refers the charges to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
March 10-12: Lawyers hold nationwide protests, clash with police in Lahore.
March 16: Police fire rubber bullets and teargas thousands of opposition supporters in Islamabad and smash up studios of the private Geo television station which had covered the protests live.
March 19: Several judges quit over the chief justice’s suspension. Gen Musharraf denies he is about to declare a state of emergency.
March 22: President Pervez Musharraf appoints Rana Bhagwandas as acting chief justice.
March 26: First joint protests organised by the parties of exiled former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif outside Supreme Court. Mass demonstrations continue throughout April.
May 5-6: Thousands cheer the chief justice’s motorcade from Islamabad to Lahore, where he declares to a huge crowd that the “era of dictatorship is over.”
May 7: Supreme Court suspends the SJC inquiry into charges against the chief justice and takes up the petition challenging his suspension.
May 12-13: Forty-three people killed after government supporters prevent the chief justice from attending a rally in Karachi. Strikes called afterwards paralyse much of the country.
May 14: Gunmen kill Supreme Court official Syed Hamad Raza, who had close ties to the chief justice. Police say it was robbery and later arrest several people.
May 29: The chief justice files an affidavit at the Supreme Court alleging that President Musharraf’s generals tried to intimidate him on March 9.
June 2: More than 25,000 people greet the chief justice as he leads processions to north-western town of Abbotabad. He makes similar trips to Faisalabad and Multan later in the month.June 4: Gen Musharraf imposes tough new rules on broadcasters, sparking protests by journalists. Gen Musharraf lifts the clampdown three days later.
July 16: Government lawyers drop one of the charges against the chief justice.
July 17: Suicide bomber kills 17 as hundreds gather ahead of a speech by the chief justice in Islamabad.
July 20: Supreme Court reinstates Chief Justice Chaudhry and quashes the charges against him, sparking jubilant celebrations by lawyers outside the court and in several other cities.—AFP
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