27 January 2004	Tuesday	04 Zilhaj 1424

ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: The lawyers' community, emphasizing the need to implement the 1973 Constitution in letter and in spirit, has demanded that the government should fill the vacant posts of judges of the Supreme Court with senior advocates.

Addressing a press conference at Supreme Court building here on Monday, Professional Lawyers Forum President Rai Nawaz Kharal said that under clause II of the article 177 of the Constitution, the lawyers having over 15 years' experience could be appointed judge of the apex court.

The clause had been violated, he said and demanded that the vacant posts of judges in the apex court should be filled with senior lawyers to fulfil the requirements of the Constitution.

Advocate Kharal stated that he had filed a petition in the Supreme Court on the same issue, the court had already accepted the petition, and the state had agreed to look into the matter in future appointments.

He regretted that since the inclusion of the clause in the 1973 Constitution, not a single judge had been appointed to Supreme Court from the senior lawyers which, he said, was a violation of the Constitution.

Criticizing the present and past leaderships of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and representatives of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Mr Kharal alleged that they were using the two organizations for their political motives, instead of solving the problems of the lawyers' community.

Some SCBA leaders wanted to create a misunderstanding between the bench and the bar, he alleged, emphasizing that without cordial relations between the bench and bar, the people could not get cheap and quick justice.

Mr Kharal described the role of the SCBA and the PBC on the issue of the Legal Framework Order as political which, in his opinion, had created a misunderstanding between the bench and bar. He criticized the "Long March" by the lawyers' community and thought it had been against the honour and dignity of the lawyers.-APP