Ex-CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry gets warm welcome in NY

NEW YORK - Deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was given a warm welcome when he arrived in New York for a week's visit during he will receive prestigious awards for upholding  independent judiciary in Pakistan.


He was received at John F. Kennedy International Airport by Pakistan's Consul General Mohsin Razi, local lawyers and representatives of various political parties, including PML-N, Tehrik-i-Insaf and Awami National Party, as well as some 200 Pakistanis, some of them accompanied by their children.


Prominent Pakistani Lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan was also present at the airport to receive the former chief justice.


The Emirates flight he traveled landed at 2:50 p.m. (local) (0050 PST Monday Pakistan standard time), one hour behind schedule.


At a ceremony on Monday, Justice Chaudhry will be made Honourary Member of the New York City Bar Association, which is regarded as a high honour.


The award was bestowed on him in absentia last January, as he was under house arrest after his ouster and the suspension of the Pakistani Constitution by President Pervez Musharraf in November last year.


On November 14th, 2007, the City and State Bars, along with several other organizations, organized a rally of some 700 lawyers on the steps of the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan in support of Justice Chaudhry and the Pakistan Lawyers Movement.


A press release of the New York City Bar Association took note of the fact that despite the emergence of an elected government in Pakistan, he has not been restored to his position.


"The award of Honorary Membership recognizes Chief Justice Chaudhry's efforts to uphold Pakistan's independent judiciary, the press release said. Previous recipients include Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice Bhagwati of the Indian Supreme Court and Judge Thomas Buergenthal of the International Court of Justice.