May 03, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 26, 1429

LAHORE, May 2: Lawyers welcomed the statement of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Patron Mian Nawaz Sharif that deposed judges would be reinstated on May 12 but they also sounded caution in the face of the delay in implementation of the Murree Declaration.

"We will wait and see till May 12," said former Supreme Court Bar Association president Munir A Malik. The decision not only mirrored the aspirations of people but signalled the triumph of the lawyers’ movement for the rule of law and independence of the judiciary, he said.

In the backdrop of lawyers' demand that judge be restored first and a constitutional package tabled later with consensus, Mr Malik said: "We are satisfied the resolution and the constitutional package were not interlinked."

Pakistan Bar Council member Hamid Khan said the constitutional package should be within the parameters defined in the constitution. He added the amendments, which were not in accordance with the basic structure of parliament, could not be introduced in the package at all.

He said the Pakistan Bar Council would pass a resolution to praise the decision to restore judges. He added an independent judiciary not only provided justice to all but safeguarded democratic values.

Justice (retired) Tariq Mehmood said though lawyers had reservations on keeping the judges, who took oath under the Provisional Constitution Order, they would accept parliament's decision for the sake of a greater cause. He added if all judges were restored, their number would exceed the limit mentioned in the constitution.

“It is not going to make complicate the situation because parliament could raise the number of judges by amending the Supreme Court Act, 1997, with a simple majority," he said. He said he hoped that coalition partners would keep their word and bring back judges to their pre-Nov 3 status on May 12. — Reporter