LAHORE, May 22: The joint action committee of lawyers has chosen the Supreme Court building in Islamabad as the spot for launching a “direct action” on June 9, against the superior courts’s judges who availed themselves of a three-year extension in their respective tenures under the Legal Framework Order (LFO).
Leaders of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at a press conference on Thursday reiterated the warning of a direct action against the judges enjoying extended tenures if they do not vacate their offices by June 9.
The representatives hinted that the action would be initiated outside the courtroom of the chief justice of Pakistan, but refused to divulge its details. They feared that the CJ could announce a day-off for the courts on June 9, if details of the direct action were released.
“All we can tell you at this moment is that the starting point of this action will be the area surrounding the CJ courtroom, and the rest of the proceedings could be witnessed by the Press on June 9,” chairman of the PBC’s executive committee, Kazim Khan, told newsmen.
SCBA President Hamid Khan said the exact manner for carrying out the direct action would be finalized in a committee’s meeting scheduled for June 8, in Islamabad.
Replying to a query, he also expressed his inability to release details of the action.
Mr Khan said “whatever we will do should not be taken as an exercise to disgrace the judiciary” as it was aimed at making the judges realize that they should not make the judiciary a “disputed institution” by accepting the extension.
He feared that judges’ decision to continue enjoying extended tenures under the LFO might lead to a serious constitutional vacuum. “The CJ should have made a collective decision in a full court meeting after talking to the judges on this issue as apparently there is a rift in the judiciary with regard to the extension issue,” he said.
Mr Khan expressed the hope that the judges would respond to the Joint Action Committee’s call by deciding to vacate their offices by June 9.
Former vice-chairman of Punjab Bar Council, Muhammad Ramzan Chaudhry; senior member of Pakistan Bar Council, Chaudhry Ahsraf Wahla, and office-bearers of the SCBA were also present on the occasion.
Currently, SC Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad, Justice Qazi Muhammad Farooq of the Supreme Court, Justice Raja Muhammad Sabir of the Lahore High Court, Justice Ashraf Leghari of the Sindh High Court and Justice Abdur Rauf Khan of the Peshawar High Court are the five judges working under the three-year extension provision.