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

LAHORE, May 2: A federal minister playing a key role on the issue of reinstatement of deposed judges said on Friday that the government had no intention of taking President Pervez Musharraf on board on its plan to restore the pre-Nov 3 judiciary.

He also said that the government was not bothered if the reinstated judges and the president would be able to co-exist or not. “There is no question of the government trying to take the president on board,” said the minister while talking to Dawn.

Asked if the system would work smoothly with the sacked judges back in their chambers and the president also being there, he said: “Only time will tell.”

However, he said, the government wanted the system to work smoothly with all state functionaries performing their duty within the limits set by the Constitution.

When asked if the government apprehended that the presidency might block the move to reinstate the deposed judges, the minister said he would not like to say anything on the subject because the matter concerned to the presidency.

Asked if Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry would become the functional Chief Justice of Pakistan immediately after his reinstatement, he said PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif would be in a better position to answer the question.

Similarly, he said, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar would be in a better position to assess the situation he could face after the return of the deposed judges.

Answering another question, he said there was a difference of opinion between the PPP and the PML-N on the modalities for reinstatement of the sacked judges and it was for that reason that a committee of experts had been set up to sort out the issue.

He said that one party was of the view that a resolution followed by a notification would bring the judges back to their jobs, while the other said that a resolution should be followed by legislation.

He said the final course of action would be decided by the committee of experts. And in case there was a difference of opinion, the matter would be referred to Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif for a final decision.