HYDERABAD, Sept 3: Sindh Advocate-General Yusuf Leghari has invited the deposed judges of superior courts to take fresh oath and has said that there is no harm in it as the deposed judges have been offered same seniority which they held on November 2, 2007.

He said deposed chief justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry or any other bench of judges could even declare the November 3, 2007 action as null and void after they take fresh oath.

He was addressing members of Hyderabad chapter of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) here on Wednesday.

The president of the Hyderabad chapter of the association, Abdul Sattar Kazi, Hyderabad District Bar Association president Chaudhry Bashir Gujjar, Sindh Additional Advocate-General Allah Bachayo Soomro and others were present.

“It is only because of the fact that a new Pakistan is being founded and that a man from smaller province is going to be elected as president,” he said while referring to the presidential race between Mr Asif Ali Zardari and other candidates.

He said a man who had stage a revolt against his judiciary had been backed as a presidential candidate.He contended that Nov 3, 2007 action had been validated by the apex court and now there were two ways to declare that action as null and void. One, he said, was the path of confrontation while the second was through an act of parliament or through a judicial order.

“Will the havens fall if you take fresh oath as judges. You will be given the same powers and the same seniority which you possessed on November 2,” the AG repeatedly said that in his speech. He said there was no other solution to this issue.

He was critical of slogan mongering by lawyers in their weekly protests and said there were people who raised slogans against head of one particular party and such a situation could provoke supporter of that particular party.

He said lawyers had the right to protest and demand independence of judiciary or restoration of pre-Nov 3, 2007 judiciary but they should avoid attacking any particular party under influence of any other rival political party.

He said if lawyers’ movement was given a political colour it would harm their unity.

“We are with you in your struggle but it should not be linked with any particular political party”, he said.

“We will not let politics in the name of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry succeed,” he said.

He said that 14 new judges would be appointed in Sindh High Court on the basis of merit and without any political consideration for which the bars should put forward their recommendations.

He asked bars and media to report human rights violation cases to him directly and said that he would take them up with relevant quarters.

He promised funds for the bars although it was not within his domain.

Later speaking to journalists, the advocate-general said that if a high court judge takes fresh oath it did not mean that it was tantamount to validating Nov 3, 2007 action because a high court judge couldn’t overrule or validate an apex court’s order.

When he was reminded of federal law minister’s statement that Abdul Hameed Dogar was a rightful chief justice and the reinstatement of Justice Chaudhry would lead to a crisis, he disagreed with the contention.

“Justice Chaudhry will have to take fresh oath as a judge of apex court and then his notification of chief justice will be issued. The same has happened in case of Chief Justice of Sindh High Court Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who was first reinstated as judge and his notification as chief justice was issued,” he said.