ISLAMABAD, May 18 The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has held the constitution sacrosanct and all institutions established under it including the parliament, the Supreme Court and the high courts supreme and strictly in conformity with the injunctions of Islam.

Apparently reacting to the diatribe of Sufi Mohammad, chief of banned Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM), attacking the constitution, democracy and the Supreme Court as un-Islamic, the PBC said the constitution provided for democracy and democratic institutions in the country, which were fully in consonance with the injunctions of Islam.

“Therefore, no person or group of persons has any right to violate the constitution or impose any so-called system of justice and administration on the people at gunpoint,” the PBC's 182nd meeting said.

The meeting was presided over by PBC Vice-Chairman Abu'l Inam that was held here at the Supreme Court building.

The council also adopted a resolution, stating that all institutions under the constitutions were entitled to due respect, and resolved that the lawyers' fraternity throughout Pakistan was determined to defend the constitution and its institutions.

Any system of dispensation of justice in any part of the country, the resolution said, had to be subordinate to the constitution and had to function under the constitutional courts like the Supreme Court, the high courts and the Federal Shariat Court.

“Any judicial structure in any part of Pakistan, established outside the framework of the constitution would be illegal and invalid.”

At the same time, the PBC also opposed the ongoing military operation in Swat, describing it as “ill-planned” for causing human tragedy. “Such operations have never been a solution to any problem,” the resolution said.

However, realising the hardships being faced by the displaced people from Swat due to the ongoing operation, the meeting decided to establish a fund to help the affected people, especially lawyers of the affected areas.

It was decided that each member of the council would contribute at least Rs10,000 to this fund. The money so collected will then be disbursed for providing aid to displaced peoples through a committee comprising four PBC members from NWFP.