ISLAMABAD, Nov 8: Pakistan Muslim League (N) on Thursday criticized the promulgation of Civil Servants (amendment) Ordinance 2001 and Removal from Service (special powers) (amendment) Ord-inance 2001 by the government and said, these amendments would undermine the authority of the judiciary to call into question any act of the civil servants done in the cloak of good faith.

PML Information Secretary, Siddiqul Farooque, said that indemnifying any action of the competent authority or the civil servants amounted to giving them a blank cheque to persecute the subordinate staff and impose dictatorship at the official level. He said that the two ordinances negated the constitutionally guaranteed right of an accused to defend himself against the charges, and were, therefore, worst-ever violation of basic human rights. He said that the military rulers were gradually depriving the nation of every civil right that might throw the country into a long spell of despondency and despotic rule.

Siddiqul Farooque appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take authentic notice of these ordinances in accordance with the Constitution. He also urged the Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asia Watch and other human rights bodies to take notice of these draconian acts of the Musharraf regime.