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The conflict between Pakistan’s executive orders and judicial authorities dates back to the

era of Liaquat Ali Khan when the country was in its teething years. Throughout the course of 

Pakistan’s history the judiciary has played an integral role in the development of country,

however, the public opinion remains that the judiciary of Pakistan is more inclined towards

the military command and has favoured it often.

The time line provides a perspective of the political events that shaped the history of 

Pakistan and gave rise to various conflicting moments.

October 1954:

The constituent assembly made some amendments in the constitution which resulted in

revocation of Malik Ghulam Muhammad’s power as a governor general – rights which had

previously empowered him to dismiss Khawaja Nazimuddin’s government.

1955:

Following the decision made by the constituent assembly Ghulam Muhammad dissolved it, amove which was contested by Maulvi Tamiz-ud-din, the president of constituent assembly, in

Sindh High Court.

Sindh Court’s verdict was in Maulvi Tamiz-ud-din’s favour however Supreme Court of 

Pakistan reversed the decision. This verdict was announced by Justice Munir.

August 1955: Iskander Mirza took charge as the fourth governor general of Pakistan and

dismissed Muhammad Ali Bogra.

October 1958: Iskander Mirza, with the assistance of his

commander-in-chief Muhammad Ayub Khan, suspended 1956’s constitution and declared

the fist martial law in Pakistan – which lasted till 1962. This step involved dissolution of 

provincial and national assemblies and termination of various ministers.The coup and martial

law were unconstitutional moves, however were permitted by Justice Munir. His actions

played an active role in establishing the famous ‘doctrine of necessity’ – a term which

signifies extra-legal actions undertaken by the significant state actors in order to restore law

and order in the country.

April 1973:

Bhutto formulated 1973’s constitution which was drafted unanimously by the ruling and

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opposing parties of the country.

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August 1973:

According to the constitution of 1973, the power of decision making was at prime minister’s

discretion and president only served as the figure head. Following this article, Bhutto was

sworn in as the prime minister of Pakistan, on August 14, 1973.

September 1976:

Various amendments were introduced to the original constitution of 1973 by Bhutto, however the one which instigated uproar from the judicial command of the country entailed the

curtailing of authority and jurisdiction of the judiciary.

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January 1977:

A strong formation of all the opposing political parties, under the umbrella of Pakistan

National Alliance (PNA), led Bhutto to call for early elections.

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March 1977:Elections were held in March and PPP won by a heavy majority, however PNA refused to

accept the results and accused PPP of rigging the elections.

The political situation resulted in a strong movement against Bhutto where masses poured

out onto the streets and many political leaders were arrested for their rebellion.

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July 1977:

On July 5, 1977, the chief of army staff general Zia-ul-Haq, declared the third martial law in

Pakistan and suspended the constitution.

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November 1977:

Nusrat Bhutto filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the martial law

imposed by Zia-ul-Haq, however the court validated the imposition under the ‘Doctrine of 

necessity’.

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April 1979:

Bhutto was executed following charges of corruption and extrajudicial killings.

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Bhutto’s case remains one of the most intriguing and controversial political case in the

history of Pakistan.

A bench of seven judges was constituted in order to decide the proceeding of ZAB’s case.

Three judges acquitted him whereas four judges declared him responsible for ordering

extrajudicial murders. However, when Bhutto filed a petition to review his case, all the seven

 judges rejected it out rightly.

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1980:Zia issued the infamous provisional constitutional order of 1980 which granted exclusion of 

all martial law actions from the jurisdiction of courts. However, Quetta High court declared

that the issuance of aforementioned stipulation and order go beyond the parameters of 

martial law regime.

1981:

After this ruling, General Zia issued PCO of 1981 which required all the judges to take new

oaths validating that they will work in concurrence with the order. As a result of this 16 judges

were fired and three refused to take oath but the rest succumbed under the pressure.

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February 1985:

General Zia-ul-Haq became the president and Muhammad Khan Junejo was elected as the

prime minister of Pakistan.

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November 1985:

The eighth amendment was introduced to 1973’s constitution, which affected 19 clauses of 

the entire constitution. The constitution gave sufficient power to the president of Pakistan

including the authority to dissolve the national assembly, specified as Article 58(2) b.

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According to the newly added clause, all the decisions pertaining to the governance and

administration of the country were to be made in consensus with the president.

The articles and changes made to the constitution changed the entire system fromparliamentary to presidential regime.

May 1988:

General Zia dismissed Junejo’s government on alleged corruption charges of nationalwealth, exercising article 58(2) b. For further details click here

August 1988:

General Zia-ul-Haq along with his entourage and American official died in a plane crash.

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October 1988:

During the Haji Saifullah Khan vs The Federation of Pakistan’s case, the Supreme court of 

Pakistan declared that dissolution of assembly by General Zia was an unconstitutional move,

however the court did not revoke the orders as the entire nation was already geared up for 

the elections.

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Elections of 1988:

Soon after the death of Zia-ul-Haq, elections were held in the country, which were won by

PPP. Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first woman

prime minister of Pakistan.

August 1990:

Following the rising conflicts between Khan and Bhutto, the former dissolved the parliament

and sacked Bhutto on corruption charges, appointing Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi as the interim

prime minister.

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November 1990:

Pakistan Muslim League won the provincial and national elections and Mian Muhammad

Nawaz Sharif was elected as the prime minister.

April 1993:

Sharif served as the prime minister till April 19, 1993, however Khan then dissolved the

parliament again on charges of corruption by Sharif government and announced the date of 

elections to be held within a course of few months.

The elections were scheduled on July 14 but the Supreme Court declared Khan’s ruling as

invalid and reinstated Sharif as the prime minister.

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July 1993:

The mounting tensions and conflict between the president and prime minister led to the

resignations of both.

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October 1993:

After the general elections of 1993, which were boycotted by significant political factions

including MQM, PPP won with heavy majority and Bhutto was elected as the prime minister 

for the second time.

November 1996:

On the alleged charges of corruption and extrajudicial killings, Laghari dismissed Bhutto’s

government and announced the date of next elections.

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February 1997:

General elections were held on February 3, 1997 and Sharif was elected as the prime

minister of Pakistan for the second time.

April 1997:

The thirteenth amendment was introduced to the constitution, which empowered prime

minister and gave him the right to appoint the chief of army staff and other important civil and

military officials.

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The thirteenth amendment repealed the much controversial 58(2) b thereby divesting

president’s power.

November 1997:

The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Nawaz Sharif to appoint five judges which was

ignored by him. Following the alleged misconduct chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah issued a

contempt of court order against Sharif and summoned him to the court, after which Sharif 

agreed to carry out the orders.

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One of the biggest mob attacks was staged on November 28, 1997, when thousands of 

political workers gate crashed into the Supreme Court of Pakistan to protest against the

contempt of court hearing.

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July 1999:

Asif Ali Zardari was imprisoned following charges pertaining to corruption and money

laundering by Sharif government.

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October 1999:

The military command, headed by General Parvez Musharraf, took charge of the state of 

affairs and staged a coup against Sharif’s regime.

Following the coup, Nawaz Sharif and his collaborators were arrested for various chargespertaining to hijacking and kidnapping, but were later pardoned by the government and sent

to Saudi Arabia on exile.

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February 2002:

Government decided to repeal the 13th and 14th amendments introduced by Sharif in 1973’s

constitution.

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April 2002:

Referendum was held in 2002 in which major portion of the Pakistanis voted for General

Musharraf, resulting in his appointment as the president for the next five years.

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2004:

Asif Ali Zardari is released from the court and goes on an overseas exile.

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March 2007:

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was suspended by the President Musharraf as

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he refused to oblige to him by stepping down from his position. Chaudhary was accused of 

corruption, misdemeanour and stepping out of judicial parameters.

His suspension instigated a political and judicial turmoil over the country – a turmoil which

was considered one of the factors in toppling Musharraf’s government.

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July 2007:

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary was reinstated in a ruling headed by Justice

Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday.For further details click here

The ruling was given by a 13 member bench which unanimously decided that the petitions

file by President Musharraf were unfounded and faulty.

October 2007:

Musharraf won the presidential election but was challenged by the Supreme Court.

November 2007:

President Musharraf declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution and

parliament simultaneously.

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Musharraf also ordered the house arrest of the Chief Justice and the judges responsible for 

his reinstatement.

December 2007:

Musharraf revoked his previous orders and lifted the emergency on December 15.

February 2008:

General elections were held in Pakistan in which Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan

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Muslim League-N won a major chunk of the seats. Both the majority parties formed a

coalition government in which Yousuf Raza Gilani was elected as the Prime Minister of 

Pakistan.

June 2008:

The long march was organised by the lawyers, who sought the restoration of Iftikhar 

Mohammed Chaudhry as chief justice. The march concluded in Islamabad on June 14,

demanding the ouster of President Musharraf.

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August 2008:

Ruling coalition (PPP and PML-N) decided, for the third time, to reinstate Chaudhry.

August 2008:

President Musharraf resigned after PPP and PML-N launched impeachment proceedings

against him.

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August 2008:

PML-N left the coalition, as the government failed to reinstate the chief justice.

September 2008:

Asif Ali Zardari won the presidential election.

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December 2009:

The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued a petition to consider NRO 2007 to be null and void

which provided immunity to the offenders of law, including money launderers and

embezzlers. The ordinance of 2007 was drafted and approved by President Pervez

Musharraf.

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The court asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to reopen the cases against

President Zardari entailing the Swiss scam; allegations which the premier out rightly denies

to date.

October 2011:

Mansoor Ijaz wrote an article in Financial Times where he revealed that he delivered a

memorandum written by a Pakistani official posted in the US to Admiral Mike Mullen. The

revelation created a frenzy of activity in Pakistan bringing the role of then ambassador to the

United States, Husain Haqqani, into question.

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The memo is speculated to have been written just after Osama bin Laden’s killing in Pakistan

and allegedly seeks help from the US to rein in the country’s military and intelligence

agencies.

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November 2011:

Hussain Haqqani resigns from his position amidst chaos and allegations pertaining to him

having drafted the controversial memo.

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December 2011:

Nawaz Sharif and his alliances filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan to further 

investigate the memo scandal

The Supreme Court of Pakistan declares that the petitions filed by Nawaz Sharif and other 

political leaders to further investigate the memo scandal, are ‘maintainable’.

Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani publicly announced that he and his party members will

not accept ‘a state within a state’; a remark which instigated a sense of disagreement

between the civil and military command within the country.

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However, General Kayani reiterated that the army does not aim to ‘stage a coup’ and this is

another tactic deployed by the government to digress from memo scandal.

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January 2012:

The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued a warning against the government to implement and

execute the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) issued in the December of 2009, by

writing to the Swiss government.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani terminated the secretary defence, Khalid Naeem Lodhi,

on alleged misconduct and disciplinary actions.

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Moreover, Gilani is issued a contempt of court notice in the NRO implementation case, andis directed to appear before the apex court on January 19. He appoints Barrister Aitzaz

Ahsan to represent him in the Supreme Court.

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On the other hand, the apex court suspended Babar Awan’s licence to practice in the court

and asked for a replacement of Awan with another lawyer to represent President Zardari in

the Bhutto reference.

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Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appeared in front of the

Supreme Court to defend the contempt of court charges filed against him.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan adjourned the session by postponing the hearing until

February 1, 2012. However, the court exempted Gilani from appearing in the next scheduled

hearing.

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The memogate case took an interesting turn when Ijaz refused to come to Pakistan over 

security concerns, w