ISLAMABAD, April 12: Federal Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Farooq Naek on Saturday said that he had stopped the distribution of newly published copies of the Constitution containing amendments made after the proclamation of emergency as it was a “disputed document”.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Naek said the copies were published by the caretaker government, but these were not given to members of the National Assembly nor to anyone else.

The minister said that soon after joining the cabinet, he had directed the authorities to ensure that copies of the amended constitution reached nobody.

The latest version of the Constitution, a preface of which has been written by law secretary Justice Bin Yamin, contains new articles — 270-AAA, 270-B and 270-C — providing indemnity to the acts of the president, including the sacking of about 60 judges of superior courts upon proclamation of emergency on Nov 3.

The cover of the latest seventh edition of the constitution, a copy of which is available with Dawn, says it was the version “as modified up to Feb 29, 2008,” published by the law and justice division.

Sources said the new edition of the constitution had already been published before the oath-taking of the newly-elected MNAs on March 17, but the caretaker regime decided not to distribute it among the members fearing a 2002-like uproar in the house. Interestingly, many officers of the National Assembly and Senate secretariats are still not aware whether a new version of the constitution has been published or not. It is also not clear as to which copy of the constitution is being used by the speaker or the deputy speaker to run the proceedings of the house.

Some staff members of the National Assembly Secretariat told Dawn that they had seen some copies of the previous edition of the constitution in circulation within the secretariat with certain amendments pasted on various pages.

When asked about his position on the amendments, Mr Naek said the constitution could only be amended as per requirement under articles 238 and 239. He said the amendments inserted in the constitution after proclamation of emergency on Nov 3, 2007, had not been validated by the parliament yet and therefore, the document was a “disputed one.” That was why, he said, he had not allowed its distribution.

Similarly, when contacted to seek the official position of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), a spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Šthat Article 270-AAA had been implanted through an executive order and unlike 270-AA, it has not been validated by the parliament. “As such it is not a valid piece of legislation in the eyes of law and the constitution,” he added.

Before taking oath on March 17, the members of the ruling coalition announced that they would not accept any amendment to the constitution made by President Musharraf after proclamation of emergency on November 3, last year. Later, when the legislators took oath, they made an addition on their own and said that they would only defend the constitution which was present on November 3, 2007. It may be recalled that in November 2002, the members of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) – the then opposition parties -- had refused to recognize the then-Legal Framework Order (LFO) containing amendments made by Musharraf after seizing power in an October 1999 coup. The opposition paralyzed the proceedings of the parliament for one year when they lodged a strong protest against the LFO inside and outside the parliament. Later, the LFO became part of the constitution and was legitimized by the 17th Constitution Amendment in 2004 when the MMA alliance of religious parties helped the government get the required two-third majority in parliament for the purpose.

The 17th amendment had introduced article 270-AA in the constitution validating the acts of President Musharraf, and now new articles 270-AAA, 270-B and 270-C have been added to the constitution to indemnify the acts of the president, including the sacking of judges of superior courts.