Government officials in Pakistan say a new Chief Justice has been sworn in, following the Supreme Court ruling that the appointment in l994 of Sajjad Ali Shah to the post was unconstitutional.

The new Chief Justice, Ajmal Mian, has been acting in the post since the suspension last month of his predecessor, who had been involved in a prolonged confrontation with the Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif.

Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah

Mr Ali Shah reacted sharply to the ruling by 10 of his fellow Supreme Court judges that he should be replaced as head of the Court.

They said he was no longer the Chief Justice because his appointment three years ago was invalid and unconstitutional. He says the decision is illegal because moves to suspend him from office, which started a month ago, were themselves illegal.

Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif

The Pakistani government has been wanting to get Mr Ali Shah out of office because it says he wanted to bring down Mr Sharif.

During a recent confrontation with the government, Mr Ali Shah took up a number of corruption cases involving Mr Sharif and summoned him for contempt of court. He faced possible disqualification.

Mr Ali Shah said he was shocked by his dismissal: "I'm shocked and really very surprised, and this was not expected as it has happened."

He says at the very least the moves against him are not legal: "This was done illegally. The proceedings were taken in hand illegally, in which an order was passed which was supposed to be a judicial order. But it's not in fact a judicial order because the beginning is wrong, the foundation is wrong."

He suggested that the government deliberately turned the judges against him to stop the contempt and corruption cases being heard. The opposition says the same.

Up until last month, none of his colleagues had ever questioned his appointment and even now they say his decisions up to last month cannot be questioned.

The government says the Supreme Court is free to do what it likes.
 

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