ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum conceded on Tuesday that proclamation of emergency was an extra-constitutional step, but said the situation warranted the action.

“Some extra-constitutional steps are taken when there is no solution in the Constitution,” he told reporters in the Supreme Court building after the hearing of petitions challenging emergency.

Citing an example, he said that in 1999 the then executive had overstepped its constitutional powers and the army had to step in as a result. The same overstepping had been done by some members of the judiciary even to the extent of a ‘judicial coup’ and that resulted in the imposition of emergency in the country, the attorney-general said.

He said that all three pillars of the state — legislature, judiciary and executive — had to work within the parameters of their powers as laid down in the Constitution. “When any of them tries to encroach upon the powers of the others this leads to a situation where extra-constitutional measures become inevitable,” he added.

He said that General Pervez Musharraf would shed his uniform before taking the oath as president. He said the president would act in accordance with the undertaking he had given to the Supreme Court.

Mr Qayyum said that final notification of the presidential election results could be issued by the Election Commission only after the Supreme Court decided on all petitions questioning the legality of Musharraf’s candidature as president.

About orders being written by some deposed judges in various cases, the attorney-general said: “There is no value of such orders or judgments because it is not permitted under the Constitution as well the judicial rules. Judges who did not take the oath under the PCO are no more judges of the superior courts and now they are retired judges.”

He was of the opinion that a judge could not even sign a judgement after his retirement even if he had written it before his retirement.

When asked about his meetings with the deposed judges, Mr Qayyum said: “I have so far only met Justice Javed Iqbal.”