ISLAMABAD, July 14: Pakistan Bar Council, the apex body of legal practitioners in the country, on Sunday announced that it had dropped the idea of challenging the proposed constitutional amendments package before the Supreme Court as “the judiciary has ceased to be independent.”

The PBC convened an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss the only item on agenda, the proposed constitutional amendments package. The decisions of the meeting were released to the press by PBC Secretary Muhammad Arshad on Sunday.

“The Pakistan Bar Council has resolved not to challenge the proposed Constitutional Amendments Package before the Supreme Court because it does not expect fair and impartial decision as the Judiciary has ceased to be independent after taking oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order which is reflected in the recent decisions of the Supreme Court on constitutional questions.”

The PBC meeting also endorsed the decision of Lawyers Representatives Conference held at Lahore on July 6, 2002, and called upon the lawyers fraternity throughout Pakistan to observe strike on July 15, 2002, against the constitutional amendments package.

The lawyers will hold protest meetings on their respective bar premises to condemn the package.

The meeting was presided over by Vice-Chairman, Ashraf Wahlah, and attended by Muhammad Akram Sheikh, Hamid Khan, Sardar Mohammad Latif Khan Khosa, Hafiz Abdur Rehman Ansari, Muhammad Kazim Khan, Rasheed A. Rizvi, Abdul Haleem Pirzada, Mian Abbas Ahmad, Malik Rab Nawaz Noon, and Raja Mahmood Ahtar.