May 05, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 28, 1429

ISLAMABAD, May 4: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has called for an even-handed treatment of all ‘old and new’ PCO judges.

Talking to newsmen after a party meeting here on Sunday, he said he had serious doubts about reinstatement of judges by May 12 and said that if the judges could not be reinstated in 30 days how the new deadline of 12 more days could be met.

He appeared to have accepted PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s stand that the number of Supreme Court judges should be enhanced to accommodate all new and old PCO judges.

The Maulana said that a controversial person (without directly naming deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry) should not become an SC judge.

About the JUI-F stand on the proposed resolution and a notification for reinstatement of the deposed judges, he said he would first read the draft of the resolution and then announce his party’s line of action.

The JUI chief said if the rule of not accepting PCO judges was followed then none of the judges having taken oath under any PCO should be reinstated.

He said if the objective was to reinstate the judges sacked through the ‘illegal and unconstitutional’ action of Nov 3 then all judges inducted after the action should also be retained.