January 25, 2008	Friday	Muharram 15, 1429

PESHAWAR, Jan 24: Former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif on Thursday assured the deposed judges of the Peshawar High Court including chief justice Tariq Pervez Khan that they would leave no stone unturned for the restoration of “upright and independent” judges.

Mr Sharif along with other party leaders and lawyers visited the residence of Justice Tariq Pervez where two other deposed judges -- Justice Shahjehan Khan Yousafzai and Justice Dost Muhammad Khan -- were also present.

He paid tributes to the three judges for not taking oath under the PCO and stated: “I still consider Justice Tariq Pervez as the high court chief justice and will continue to struggle for the restoration of all the deposed judges.”

He told the three judges that the main point in his election manifesto was the restoration of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary. “We will never validate the illegal acts of Pervez Musharraf and the next

Parliament would undo what he had done,” he claimed.Mr Sharif said that the judges who declined to take dictation from the army general were our real heroes. “With the grace of Almighty Allah truth would be triumphant and the usurper of power would face defeat,” he added.

Justice Tariq Pervez told Mr Sharif that they had not acted anything unconstitutional as a full bench of the Supreme Court had on Nov 3 ruled the imposition of emergency by General Musharraf as unconstitutional.”

“How could we have taken oath under the PCO when a bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry declared any imposition of emergency as unconstitutional,” Justice Tariq said adding that the judges who had taken oath under the PCO had committed contempt of the court.

Justice Shahjehan Khan and Justice Dost Muhammad Khan also thanked Mr Sharif for supporting the lawyers’ movement and raising voice for independence of the judiciary.