LAHORE, Dec 1: Justice M. A. Shahid Siddiqui of the Lahore High Court, who did not take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order, has issued a ‘contempt notice’ to the court registrar for asking him to vacate his official residence.

The court registrar, through a letter on Nov 16, had asked the judge to vacate his official residence.

“The issuance of the letter appears to be an attempt to intimidate and overawe the judges who have not surrendered to the Chief of Army Staff. I, therefore, as a sitting judge of the Lahore High Court direct the registrar of this court to explain why and upon whose insistence he has issued the letter and asked me to vacate my official residence,” said the notice the judge issued from his home.

“This communication is wholly illegal, totally in defiance of constitutional provisions and even against the normative values of decency,” the judge said, adding: “I am clear in my mind that the Lahore High Court owes its very existence to the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, which embodies the will of the people.”

“The constitution of a country is always considered the supreme and sacred law of the land and cannot be allowed to be abrogated, held in abeyance or violated under any pretext, especially by those who have taken an oath to preserve, protect and defend it,” he said.

“In view of the above, the proclamation of emergency and the Provisional Constitution Order, 2007, being in sheer abuse of powers are of no legal consequence as declared immediately after its promulgation by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.”

The mandate, Justice Siddiqui said, was binding upon all judges of the high courts and all officials performing their functions under the law. “Any infraction, violation or deviation from that order will amount to serious contempt of court for which a deviant official will be liable and likely to be punished.”

Talking to Dawn, Justice Siddiqui said that after his notice to the registrar, an additional registrar had verbally asked him to abandon the official car. When he refused, they asked the driver to bring the car to the High Court.

The judge said he had given up the driver but retained the car because he was entitled to it by virtue of his service.

“How could they ask me to vacate my residence when I’ve not been removed, dismissed or have retired as a judge,” he said. He said he had been a judicial official for 26 years, with six years of service in the high court. He said he did not have a house of his own and was building one on a piece of land in the Judicial Officers Colony. “But that will not be completed any time soon.”