ISLAMABAD, March 18: A meeting of all judges of the Supreme Court on Tuesday took decisions only relating to the welfare of retired judges and disposal of pending cases, allaying fears that the full court had been convened to discuss measures to prevent the National Assembly from passing a resolution on the reinstatement of sacked judges.
“The meeting considered matters relating to the welfare of the retired judges of the Supreme Court and directed the office to facilitate the honourable retired judges in every possible way,” says an official handout issued after the meeting.
However, it was not clear whether the term ‘retired judges’ used in the handout included the judges sent home by President Musharraf on Nov 3, 2007, while imposing the state of emergency.
Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum, meanwhile, described as ‘premature’ a petition filed in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking an injunction against the National Assembly from passing any resolution for the reinstatement of deposed judges. He said the apex court could take up such matters only after the passage of the resolution.
“Right now it is not clear what will be the contents of the resolution,” he said. How could parliament reinstate deposed judges when it was not empowered to remove or appoint them, he asked.
“Only a constitutional amendment through a two-thirds majority in the two houses of parliament could bring the deposed judges back to their job. Judges cannot be restored merely through resolutions, as it reflects simply the desire of the house,” Mr Qayyum argued.
The full-court meeting, presided over by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, also examined a proposal forwarded by its own office for the upgradation of posts of Supreme Court employees and enhancement of judicial allowance and directed the office to place the matters along with necessary details in the next meeting.
The meeting was attended by Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar, Justice M. Javed Buttar, Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, Justice Ijazul Hassan, Justice Mohammad Qaim Jan Khan, Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari, Justice Chaudhry Ejaz Yousaf, Justice Mohammad Akhtar Shabbir, Justice Zia Perwez, Justice Mian Hamid Farooq, Justice Syed Sakhi Hussain Bukhari, Justice Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery, Justice Sheikh Hakim Ali and Justice Mohammad Farrukh Mahmood.
