Deposed CJ calls off campaign

Pakistan’s deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has called off plans to address bar associations as part of the campaign for his restoration amidst signs of differences between the ruling PPP and the legal fraternity. Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan, who is also a senior PPP leader and former minister, told reporters that Chaudhry would not address any bar associations for the next 30 days in response to a request from Law Minister Farooq Naek. Naek, himself a leading lawyer, said the movement by the legal fraternity to press for the reinstatement of judges deposed during last year’s emergency by President Pervez Musharraf had created “legal confusion”.