January 28, 2003	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 24, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Jan 27: President of Supreme Court Bar Association Hamid Khan and Mohammad Kazim Khan, the chairman of Executive Committee of PBC, on Monday said lawyers community would not accept the Legal Framework Order as part of the Constitution till the time it was validated by Parliament.

Speaking at a press conference, the representatives of the Bar also demanded immediate oath to the judges of the superior judiciary, as the Provisional Constitutional Order had ceased to exist. The judges who were administered oath under the PCO were still working without any fresh oath. They said it was an anomalous situation from which the country was passing, and the sooner it is resolved, the better it would be for the country.

The Bar leaders said that the lawyers community would continue its struggle for the rule of law.

They said a conference of the representatives of the lawyers community would be held in Islamabad on Feb 1, to consider the matter of restoration of 1973 Constitution, the rule of law in the country, Legal Framework Order (LFO) and particularly the enhancement in the retirement age of the judges of the superior courts.

Hamid Khan said the LFO needed to be validated by Parliament and without its validation it could not be accepted on statutes.

He said the Bar stance with regard to agitating matters of constitutional importance before the judiciary remained unchanged. “The Bar is convinced that agitating any matter before the judiciary in its present composition, is an exercise in futility as the judiciary in Pakistan has ceased to be independent.”

He said if the members of the judiciary refused to accept the extension in their retirement age, then they might qualify to decide the legality of the LFO, but till the time the judiciary was beneficiary of the LFO, the Bar would not accept any of its verdict on LFO.

The leaders said they were aware that efforts were afoot to drag the LFO in the SC and then get it stamped from the court.