March 29, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1428

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HYDERABAD, March 28: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim on Wednesday said there was no judicial crisis in the country and lawyers’ protest over the presidential reference against the chief justice of Pakistan was an international conspiracy.

According to a handout issued here by the information department, he was addressing a lawyers’ convention organised at the circuit house.

Print media was not invited to the programme.

The chief minister described the reference against the chief justice as a constitutional obligation of the president and a step within the legal framework.

He said that it was the Supreme Judicial Council’s right to decide reference and no individual and group of people outside the judiciary would be allowed to interfere in the decision.

He said that those who were politicising the matter from abroad never respected courts during their governments and the apex court was attacked and the CJP was victimised.

He said that he was the first person who had condemned such acts of these governments and for that reason he was victimised by stopping irrigation water to his lands.

“Why these people are crying hoarse now against the president’s step which is within the legal framework,” he asked.

He said that agitating lawyers had been crying for appointment of Justice Bhagwandas as the acting CJP as per his seniority when he was on leave, but when he had been appointed accordingly, agitating lawyers must wait for the council’s decision which was appointed as per the Constitution.

He advised political opponents to avoid indulging in unlawful activities and wait for the decision of people during the next elections.

Condemning cancellation of memberships of advocates by bar councils, he termed it illegal as the advocate-general was chairman of bar councils and without his approval they could not cancel membership of any member.