June 21, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 16, 1429

LAHORE, June 20: Advocate Athar Minallah, who is regarded as spokesman for deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, reiterated on Friday that the PCO judges whose retention raises the number of Supreme Court judges to 29 will not be acceptable to the lawyers at any cost.

He said while talking to Dawn that even the five Supreme Court judges who were performing their judicial functions on Nov 2 but had taken oath under the PCO were liable to be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution and on the charge of violating the Code of Conduct of Judges.

PML-N MNA Khwaja Muhammad Asif told reporters after a meeting between Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif that his party would support the PPP in passing the Finance Bill - as a result of which the number of Supreme Court judges would go up to 29 - and the federal budget.

However, Mian Nawaz Sharif said a few hours later that his party would stick to its demand for the restoration of the Nov 2 judiciary.

PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq said there was no contradiction between the two statements as if the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court was put at 29 it would not mean that all seats would be filled.

Athar Minallah said 17 judges were working in the Supreme Court on Nov 3 and there was not a single vacancy in the apex court that day. Therefore, all appointments made after that date were void ab initio.

He said all judges who had taken oath under the PCO were liable to be tried under Article 6.

Minallah said judgments of judges whose appointments were void were of no legal effect.

To remove these judges, he said, there was no need to invoke Article 209 of the Constitution.

Explaining the point, he said, no judge could be appointed to the Supreme Court without the consultation of the Chief Justice, and since Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had not been consulted, the appointments made in the top court were unconstitutional.

He did not agree with the interpretation of PPP Senator Babar Awan that judges who had accepted salaries of the past seven months had in fact admitted that the issue of judges' restoration could be settled in accordance with the constitutional package given by the federal government.

“The entire legal fraternity has rejected the package,” he said.

He said the package Senator Awan was referring to contained some provisions whose adoption would amount to legitimizing the unconstitutional steps taken by President Musharraf.

Minallah said the judges had received their salaries because they were entitled to receive them. In fact, he said, the PCO judges had no right to take salaries because their appointments were illegal.

Asked what would be the situation in case the parliament, through a constitutional amendment, raised the number of Supreme Court judges to 29, Minallah said such a step would amount to validating the unconstitutional act of Nov 3 and negating the mandate of the Feb 18 polls.

By taking such a step the parliament would also be compromising its own supremacy, he said.