22 August 2004	Sunday	05 Rajab 1425

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LAHORE, Aug 21: The lawyers Joint Action Committee is scheduled to finalize modalities of trial of the 'subverters' of the constitution when it meets here on September 11.

Trial of those who subverted or abetted the crime has been on the agenda of the action committee since the new Lahore High Court Bar Association leadership took over in March this year.

The trial under Article 6 of the constitution has been the motto of the election campaign of LHCBA president Ahmad Awais who told Dawn on Saturday that arrangements were in final stages and the JAC was scheduled to approve them in its next meeting in Lahore.

Mr Awais has sent to the JAC his proposal of the trial according to which setting up of a 100-member 'grand assembly of senior jurists' was the first step in initiating a judicial inquiry into the extent of responsibility of generals, politicians and judges in subversion or aiding in subversion of the constitution.

According to the LHCBA president, the jurists assembly would select the persons responsible for the offence and frame charges against them. The assembly would comprise eminent lawyers drawn from all the four provinces.

The trial would be conducted by a three-member tribunal at Lahore as had been agreed earlier. The tribunal would ultimately give its findings holding the people responsible for undermining the constitution, damaging state institutions and causing the rule of undemocratic forces to stabilize.