LAHORE, April 16: The Lawyers Joint Action Committee will, for the first time, consider in Islamabad on Saturday a proposal for the establishment of a grand assembly of senior jurists to try on the charge of high treason those, who have allegedly subverted or abetted in subverting the constitution.

The proposal has been moved by Ahmad Awais, the president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, under a directive issued by the Pakistan Bar Council and the Lawyers JAC during its last meting held here on March 20.

Mr Awais told Dawn on Friday that he had sent the proposal to the PBC and the JAC early this week and it was enlisted on the agenda of the joint meeting of the lawyers' highest representative body.

The proposal, which was one of the election slogans of Mr Awais, generated a big interest when it came up for discussion at the Lahore meeting three weeks ago. The meeting, however, asked Mr Awais to send a formal proposal for the next JAC and PBC meeting in Islamabad.

According to Mr Awais, he had proposed that the grand assembly should comprise no less than 100 senior jurists drawn from all the four provinces. The LHCBA was prepared to host the assembly, which would identify a period and the people responsible for subverting and abetting subversion of the constitution.

He has also proposed that the Pakistan Bar Council vice-chairperson should preside over the assembly, which would ultimately work out a charge sheet against the accused after which a tribunal would be constituted to begin the trial.