May 21, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1429

ISLAMABAD, May 20: A constitutional committee of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q on Tuesday described the sacking of superior court judges under the November 3, 2007 PCO as unconstitutional and urged the party to support their reinstatement through a constitutional amendment.

The committee comprising Senators Wasim Sajjad, S.M. Zafar, Mohammad Anwar Bhinder and Dr Khalid Ranjha, was constituted by the party leadership during a recent meeting held to discuss the issue.

The party’s president, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, had announced that the party to come up with its own resolution if the ruling coalition failed to do so and constituted a committee for the purpose.

The committee said it would meet again after the PPP submitted its constitutional package in parliament.

Former Senate chairman Wasim Sajjad said the committee was of the view that an appropriate legislation would be needed for the restoration of pre-Nov 3 judiciary.

He said tabling a resolution was “not a bad idea”, but the resolution should also contain guidelines for the judges’ reinstatement.

He said that in the opinion of the committee, the present judges needed to be retained through an amendment in the Judges Act of 1997.