President Zardari is in Trouble in Pakistan

The Pakistan Supreme court earlier did not have a reputation for independent decisions. In many cases the Pak Supreme Court justified the army rule under the pernicious " Doctrine of Necessity". Times have however changed after justice Iftikar Choudhry took over as the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

It is surprising how one determined judge can act as a super cop. This is precisely what justice Choudhry has done. He has started an accountability crusade in Pakistan political and social field. In this his target is Asif Zardari, who is the President of Pakistan.

Zardari has a dubious record. When his wife Benazir Bhutto was the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zardari earned the title of Mr. Ten percent. It was rumored that Zardari made crores of ruppees in kickbacks in all government deals and contracts. There is no doubt he has disproportionate assets to his known source of income. He is reported to have salted billions of rupees in Swiss banks. A confirmation to this was given, but the Swiss wanted a formal letter from the government of Pakistan.

Justice Choudhry instructed the Pak PM to send a letter to the Swiss goverment asking for details of Asif Zardai`s money laundering. The PM refused and was given a micro sentence for contempt of the court. This sentence has serious repurcussions as anybody with conviction cannot continue as a member of the Senate. The next step was the resignation of the PM to save Zardari.

A new leader to be the PM is selected, but Justice Choudhry is not a man to give up easily. He has issued similar instructions to the new PM to follow up with the swiss authorities the corruption antics of Zardai. The cat is now out of the bag and Zardari will find it hard to escape the dragenet cast by the Chief Justice.