May 28, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 22, 1429

LAHORE, May 27: Pakistan Muslim League-N’s senior vice-president Syed Zafar Ali Shah has said that reinstatement of the deposed judges will not be as simple a matter as is being portrayed by some people.

Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, he said that Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s warning to punish violators of the Supreme Court’s order of Nov 3, 2007, on the imposition of emergency rule, if implemented, could have an unpredictable fallout.

He said parliament would take considerable time to debate the 62-point constitutional package prepared by the Pakistan People’s Party and evolve a consensus on it.

Mr Shah said parliament could come up with a resolution to declare the Nov 3 acts illegal and recommend to the executive to let the sacked judges resume their functions, but the situation could get complicated if those responsible for the ‘illegality’ were to be identified and proceeded against.

The PML-N leader said it would be better for the political leadership to hold behind-the-scene talks to look into all aspects of the matter before getting a resolution passed in the National Assembly.

He said several orders had been issued by Pervez Musharraf both as the army chief and president on and after Nov 3 and all of them had been made part of the Constitution. The status of those orders would be determined afresh by parliament.

He said it could also be left to the reinstated judiciary to decide about the status of the ‘PCO judges’ and the steps taken by the rulers after the imposition of emergency. He said the judiciary could also hold the rulers responsible for violating the Constitution and liable for trial for high treason. He said it was up to the judiciary to take a lenient or stern view of the matter. “It is better if the matter is decided by the political leadership before proceeding further.”

The PML-N leader was of the view that parliament would not be able to amend the Constitution in accordance with PPP’s package in the first week of June. And since the budget was to be presented on June 7 and no other business could be transacted during the budget session, the matter could get delayed by some weeks.