PESHAWAR, Nov 6: Criticizing enhancement in the retirement age of superior court judges, the Supreme Court Bar Association chief said on Wednesday that judiciary was sharing power with the military rulers for which it was rewarded by the government.

Speaking to lawyers on an invitation of the Peshawar District Bar Association, SCBA chief Hamid Khan said that they would continue their struggle against the Legal Framework Order and for the supremacy of the 1973 Constitution.

Mr Khan was brought to the sessions court from the high court in a procession by the lawyers. He was awarded honorary membership of the PDBA.

Speakers criticized the apex court observations in its recent judgment in the judges case. The court had observed that Mr Khan’s comments in the case amounted to contempt of the court and it reserved the right to take action against him.

A member of the Pakistan Bar Council, Qazi Mohammad Anwer, said that if a notice was given to Mr Khan, they would move an application for becoming party to the case as the views expressed by the SCBA chief were views of the entire lawyers community.

Mr Khan said the resolutions passed by the SCBA, PBC and other bar associations in the country were aimed at upholding the supremacy of the Constitution and independence of the judiciary. He demanded of the judiciary to pronounce unequivocally whether the reward given to them by the military government in the shape of three years extension in the retirement age was acceptable to them or not.

“If they turn down this gift from the government we will start extending due respect to the judiciary,” he maintained.

The SCBA’s president said that the country needed strong institutions, but subversion of the Constitution by successive military rulers and validation of their acts by the judiciary had left the institutions in a shambles.

Mr Khan said that the title of ‘senior advocate’ had been taken away from him but he added that such tactics could not browbeat him.

Mr Khan said the SCBA had decided not to challenge any of the constitutional matters before the Supreme Court as it would be a futile exercise. He recalled that one of their colleagues, Zafarullah Khan, had challenged the Legal Framework Order before the Supreme Court, but his petition was dismissed on Oct 7, and on Oct 9 the government amended the Constitution, enhancing the retirement age of the judges by three years.

The SCBA chief said they (judges) had already tarnished the image of the judiciary by taking the oath under the Provisional Constitution Order, validating the military rule and elevating junior judges to the Supreme Court. Now, he added, the three-year extension (in the retirement age) would further affect the independence of the judiciary.

The lawyers community, he said, did not want any confrontation with the judiciary but for upholding the supremacy of the Constitution they could go to any extent.