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KARACHI, Feb 7: Former Supreme Court judge Wajihuddin Ahmed has said that a two-third majority in parliament is not necessary for the reinstatement of the judges who were deposed under the ‘unconstitutional and illegal’ Provisional Constitution Order.
The deposed judges could be reinstated through a formal notification as they were removed under the PCO which had no constitutional or legal basis, he said at the joint general body meeting of the Sindh High Court Bar Association and the Karachi and Malir bar associations held at Shuhda-i-Punjab Hall of the City Courts on Thursday.
He added that a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, had already declared the PCO unconstitutional shortly after its promulgation.
The judges who took an oath under the PCO had validated the November 3 steps taken by retired General Pervez Musharraf although it had no constitutional ground, he said.
He maintained that the first responsibility of the new parliament was to pass a resolution to invalidate those steps taken on and after November 3, 2007, which had no legal cover. Once the resolution was passed, the judges who took an oath under the PCO would consequently lose their seats, he added.
Law & order breakdown
Mr Ahmed criticised the government for not conducting proper inquiries into the incidents that took place on May 12, October 18 and December 27, 2007.
Referring to the Wednesday killing of Awami National Party and Punjabi-Pakhtoon Ittehad leaders, he said that the breakdown of law and order would not permit the government to hold the Feb 18 elections which he said was nothing but a fraud.
Commenting on the high court verdict on the May 12 mayhem case, he said, “The PCO judges have disposed of the case in two words observing that the court could not assume the role of the investigator in exercise of its writ jurisdiction.”
“But in fact there is a difference between investigation and inquiry. And it was the inquiry that was ordered by the then judges of the high court into the matter and the judges have reserved the right to do so,” he added.
July 20 milestone
The former judge said that legal fraternity had achieved many goals throughout their ongoing struggle. However, he said, July 20, 2007 was the most successful day when chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was reinstated and suggested that the Iftikhar Day be celebrated preferably on July 20 every year.
“Our ongoing struggle would continue even after Feb 18 and it has nothing to do with an election; the basic purpose of the struggle is to restore Constitutionalism, which means the restoration of the independent judiciary and democracy, the supremacy of the constitution, the rule of the law and to make the country a welfare state,” he added.
“Our slogan is sincerity, integrity and ability,” said Justice Wajihuddin Ahmad and urged civil society and lawyers to promote all those people for the leadership who had these qualities and who were capable of understanding the problems of the people.
Defending the decision of the Pakistan Bar Council regarding the boycott of PCO judges, he said that PBC had decided to boycott the superior judiciary once in a week and urged all bar associations to follow the decision to keep unity in their ranks. “A complete boycott of courts once in a week is essential though the bars at the provincial and district levels are authorised to extend the boycott of PCO judges according to their wishes,” he said.
He also informed the lawyers about the establishment of a legal relief fund and said the body was formed to assist needy lawyers and judges.
Sindh High Court Bar Association President Rasheed A. Rizvi, condemning the killing of ANP and PPI leaders, alleged that the government was deliberately creating uncertainty to keep people away from polling stations in order to make the king’s party successful. He vowed to continue the ongoing struggle till the reinstatement of the deposed judges and withdrawal of detention orders of bar council leaders.
“The present judiciary is afraid of its ‘boss’; in fact he (President Musharraf) in a recent interview to a foreign TV said that if the present judiciary tries to cross it limits as the pre-Nov 3 judiciary did, then it would face the same consequences,” the SHCBA president said.
He said the promulgation of the PCO was unconstitutional and thus a notification of parliament would be enough to reinstate the deposed judges.
Karachi Bar Association President Mahmoodul Hassan and General Secretary Naeem Qureshi criticised the government for launching operations in Balochistan and the frontier province and killing innocent people there. They vowed to continue the struggle against the ousting of chief justice and other judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, the detention of the top leadership of the PBC and the amendments made by President Musharraf to the Constitution and the Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Act, 1973.
The meeting was told that the lawyers of the Malir Bar Association could not reach the KBA office due to a deteriorating law and order situation in the city.
After the joint body meeting, lawyers took out a procession from the KBA office against the ousting of judges and detention of PCB leaders. Joined by the activists of a local NGO Pasban, they shouted anti-government and anti-Musharraf slogans and marched on Raja Riaz Shaheed Road, formerly Lewis Road, and staged a sit-in on M.A. Jinnah Road. Traffic remained blocked for sometime until the protesters dispersed peacefully.
Meanwhile, legal proceedings at the City Courts and Malir District Courts remained suspended on Thursday as lawyers stayed away from courts in response to the strike call given by the Pakistan Bar Council.
An estimated 181 undertrial prisoners were brought to the City Courts from different prisons across the city. Although the judges remained in their chambers, the prisoners’ cases could not be heard because of the lawyers’ strike and they were taken back to their prisons. To express solidarity with the lawyers, stationery shops, cabins and stamp vendors on the premises remained closed and the City Courts wore a deserted look on Thursday.
