May 8, 2005	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, May 7: Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan informed the Supreme Court on Saturday that the 17th Amendment was very clear on the retirement age of superior court judges. In his additional comments, submitted against the petition of Awami Himayat Tehrik Party chief Maulvi Iqbal Haider seeking three-year enhancement in the retirement age of superior court judges, the attorney-general said that any interpretation of the constitution allowing superior court judges to retire at an age greater than the prescribed would be clearly repugnant to its provisions. It would also amount to encroachment on the constituent power of parliament, he said.

The attorney-general has already filed detailed comments on the petition last week.

The 17th Amendment has settled 65 years as retirement age of judges of the Supreme Court while 62 years for those of high courts.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court will commence the hearing of the petitions of Habib Wahabul Khairi, the chief of the Al-Jihad Trust, and Maulvi Iqbal Haider from Monday.