LAHORE, Nov 20: Justice Wajihuddin Ahmad (retired) has asked the lawyers’ community to start social boycott of the judges who had taken oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO).

Talking to Dawn, the former judge said the legal fraternity should stop inviting them to weddings and other social gatherings. “We have never accepted them as judges and would never do so in the future,” he said while replying to the boycott of court proceedings.

He said the lawyers did not need to boycott proceedings at lower courts, which would be beneficial to the litigants and the lawyers as well. He said the dismissal of cases by the judges, sworn in under the PCO, should not be a source of concern for the lawyers and litigants because these could be restored through an application when the right judges were back.

He said the lawyers would not settle for anything less than the restoration of the Constitution, rule of law and restoration of the judiciary to what it was before Nov 3. He said the litigants could engage pro-government lawyers in case they needed to attend to an urgent matter that needed a high court attention.

However, he asked the lawyers, fighting for the rule of law, to avoid pro-government lawyers in the barroom. “They should make it clear to them that they are not welcome at all,” he said.

Wajih said Gen Musharraf could not give oath to the handpicked, caretaker setup because he had already completed his tenure and contested elections which were stayed by the Supreme Court. “He has made a mockery of the Constitution, law, norms, decency and all moral and social values in perpetuating his dictatorship,” he said.

He said the Senate chairman should not have been made the prime minister because he was now holding two constitutional offices. “And in the absence of president, he will occupy the president’s office as well — a brazen contempt for the Constitution,” he added.

He said it was unfortunate that those who called themselves the judges of the Supreme Court at present, commuted to and from the judges enclave everyday, where the judges had been detained after Nov 3. “I am going to go there soon and lay flowers on their doors even if I am not allowed to meet them,” Wajih said.

He said only a terrorist could make judiciary subservient in a state and usurp all powers of the executive. “They are bombarding their own people in Swat, Waziristan and Balochistan, and claimed killing terrorists,” he said.

“I believe the claim regarding presence of terrorists in Swat and elsewhere is mere tales. What they need to do is to understand their problems and issues,” he said. “A man who came from Saudi Arabi or Syria, was now being dubbed as terrorist. They got married to Pakistani women and have children. How can you now call them foreigners or terrorists?” he said.

He said the blame on the Supreme Court for releasing terrorists was ridiculous because those released (in the Lal Masjid case in the Supreme Court) were screened by a sessions judge before they were freed. And the judges, Justice Fakir Muhammad Khokhar and Justice Fakir Muhammad Khokhar, who had been hearing the case, were the first ones to be given oath.

Besides, he said, the whole episode pertaining to the Lal Masjid was a farce. He said the Supreme Court should have stayed the army operation on Lal Masjid to ascertain who was behind the whole episode and how did arms end up in there.

He said the political parties’ participation in the general election was a serious matter, which needed to be thought out first. He asked the political parties to join hands with lawyers who, he said, could make a difference across Pakistan due to their strength in every constituency.—Reporter