Chaudhry, Iftikhar Muhammad
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (ĬftĬkär´ məhä´məd chô´drē), 1948–, chief justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court (2005–7, 2009–13). He established a private practice in 1974 and became an advocate of the Balochistan High Court in 1976 and of the Pakistan Supreme Court in 1985. A judge of the Balochistan High Court from 1990, he became chief justice in 1999. Appointed to Pakistan's Supreme Court by President Pervez Musharraf in 2000, Chaudhry was named chief justice of the court in 2005. Chief justice Chaudhry challenged Musharraf's government, and in 2007 the president sought to remove him on misconduct charges. The resulting confrontations with the legal establishment contributed to Musharraf's resignation the following year, and Chaudhry was subsequently restored as chief justice. A controversial judge who often initiated cases on matters that interested him, Chaudhry attacked political corruption, promoted human rights, and investigated cabinet ministers, police officers, and the military on a wide variety of issues. He failed, however, to reform the slow, corruption-ridden lower courts, and was accused of inconsistency and of pursuing personal vendettas in some cases.