[JURIST] Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry [official profile; JURIST news archive] returned to work Tuesday after being reinstated [JURIST report] earlier this week and immediately called for members of the Pakistani judicial system to put an end to corruption [Dawn report]. Chaudhry resumed his position amid great celebration [BBC video] by Pakistani lawyers, 16 months after being removed from his post [JURIST report] by then-president Pervez Musharraf [JURIST news archive]. One of the first orders of business for the court will be to decide the fate of the judges and justices appointed under emergency rule [JURIST report] by Musharraf.

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari [official profile; JURIST news archive] last week announced that Chaudhry's reinstatement [JURIST report] was imminent and ordered government officials to release [Dawn report] anyone arrested during a second so-called "long march" [JURIST report] held in part to call for Chaudhry's return. Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Muslim League had actively campaigned [JURIST report] for Chaudhry's reinstatement, and Chaudhry maintained that he was still chief justice [JURIST report] under the Pakistani constitution, even after his ouster.