ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), a premier regulatory body of lawyers, took exception on Tuesday to what it called “political activities and statements of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on political issues” and suggested that he should wait for the expiry of two years’ bar after his retirement.

Expressing concern on the current political situation and unrest in the country, PBC Vice Chairman Mohammad Ramzan Chaudhry said the former chief justice did not have any mandate to issue statements which not only undermined the prestige of the judiciary but also contributed to aggravating the already volatile situation.

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When asked to cite any political statement issued by the former chief justice, Ramzan Chaudhry quoted the speech Justice Chaudhry made in Quetta on August 2 in which he had warned that if any attempt was made to derail democracy the lawyers community would launch a movement from Quetta similar to the one started after his first removal as chief justice by then president Pervez Musharraf on March 9, 2007.

The former chief justice had also deplored that conspiracies against democracy which started during 2008 and 2013 were continuing even today.

Justice Chaudhry advised to wait for the expiry of two years’ bar after his retirement

The PBC vice chairman said these statements were issued in the presence of judges of the Balochistan High Court at a ceremony arranged by the Balochistan Bar Council and Balochistan Bar Association in Quetta. The sitting judges should keep a distance from attending such ceremonies because it attracted criticism against the judiciary, he added.

Ramzan Chaudhry said Justice Chaudhry at a Eid Milan party held by the newly-formed Justice Lawyers Party in Lahore on Aug 4 had said that people had a clear understanding of their rights ensured to them in the Constitution and would therefore resist with full force any unconstitutional move.

He said Justice Chaudhry did not have any mandate to issue such statements.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2014