LAHORE, Nov 25: Pakistan Lawyers Forum President A K Dogar advocate said on Tuesday the Supreme Court of Pakistan is not a “competent court in the light of the decision the apex court handed down in Asad Ali verses Federation of Pakistan (PLD 1998 SC 161)”.

Talking to reporters, advocate Dogar said since Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar was not the senior-most judge, he could not have been appointed as the Chief Justice of Pakistan. He said since the order passed by Chief of Army Staff, suspending Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, on Nov 3, was totally void and without jurisdiction, “all super-structure built on that order is also void and of no legal effect”.

The lawyer also referred to the case which led to the removal of Justice Sajjad Ali Shah. “Mr Justice Sajjad Ali Shah had served as chief justice of Pakistan for three-and-a-half years when a bench of the Supreme Court sitting at Quetta was moved by a private person who objected the very constitution of the apex court on the ground that without validly appointed chief justice, the Supreme Court lacks competency to function as apex court of the country,” he said.

A larger bench of 10 learned judges, headed by Justice Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui, held that “the appointment of Justice Sajjad Ali Shah as Chief Justice of Pakistan was unconstitutional, illegal and contrary to the decision of this court in Al-Jahad Trust Case.”