Lawyers for unconditional reinstatement of judges

Lawyers will not accept any constitutional package and amendment that affects reinstatement of the deposed judges including deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

If any steps are taken against the Murree Declaration, the lawyers will relaunch their movement, said Supreme Court Bar Association member Sheikh Ahsanuddin here on Friday.

He said conspiracies were being hatched against the Murree Declaration, whereby the coalition partners had made a commitment to have the deposed judges reinstated within 30 days of the formation of a new government.

The conspiracy is aimed to sabotage the plan of the new government about the reinstatement of all the deposed judges, he added.

The deposed judges are a beacon for the people and nothing short of their unconditional and complete restoration would satisfy them, he said.

He said lawyers’ struggle was aimed at strengthening national institutions including parliament and the judiciary. He paid tribute to the deposed judges for not bowing before the rulers.

Agencies adds: Lawyers have said they will announce their future strategy if deposed judges were not reinstated within the period as promised under the Murree Declaration.

“Lawyers community supports the decision of Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, president Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), giving a timeframe to the government for reinstatement of the deposed judges,” this was stated by Sardar Asmatullah Niazi, president Rawalpindi High Court Bar Association, and Athar Minallah, member Pakistan Bar Council, while talking to journalists outside the residence of the deposed chief justice in Islamabad on Friday.

They said lawyers would not create any problem or difficulty for the government during these 30 days.

Lawyers for unconditional reinstatement of judges -DAWN - National; April 05, 2008

lawyers clearly oppose the method being adopted by PPP... so do I... n so should everyone of us... unconditional reinstatement would make future vioators think that their orders can be reversed, they r not the ultimate power... adopting any other means for reinstatement would strengthen their belief that they own the country n can do whtever they want to do with it, nobody wiil b able to challenge their decision

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Aitzaz Warns new parliament

Dawn Report

Some excerpts follow here, full story at Dawn website
LAHORE / HYDERABAD, Feb 23: The legal community kept up the momentum in their ongoing campaign for the reinstatement of deposed judges by using different events of their bar associations held on Saturday to spotlight their demands. At one such event Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Aitzaz Ahsan warned the leaderships of the PPP and PML-N to get the deposed judges reinstated quickly or face a movement themselves.

“The lawyers are providing a chance to the new parliament to reinstate the judges, otherwise they are all set to hold a rally in Islamabad on March 9,” Mr Ahsan said.

The SCBA leader’s detention was relaxed for a short period to allow him to cast his vote in the LHCBA election on Saturday.

Mr Ahsan said the PCO, which led to removal of over 60 judges, including the deposed chief justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, would obstruct the functioning of the new parliament.

Referring to the Supreme Court verdict on the reinstatement of the chief justice, Mr Ahsan said the decision had held out that no judge of the superior judiciary could be removed unless the Supreme Judicial Council decided to do so under Article 209 of the Constitution.

He said if the Nov 3 PCO was not discarded, it would provide legitimacy to future army chiefs to impose emergency, usurp the basic rights of the people and amend the Constitution, forcing the future governments to follow it.

The center of ‘power gravity’ would remain with the parliament if the judges were restored, otherwise it would shift to streets because the lawyers would not abandon their principled demands at any cost, he said.

“If the leadership of both the parties want the parliament to take a decision on judges’ restoration, we give them a chance,” he said. However, he warned, the tide of the lawyers’ movement would turn against them if they did not reinstate the deposed judges. Mr Ahsan said Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and his three children had been confined to the four walls of their house over the past three and a half months. During this period the children had not only been denied access to their schools, the whole family was without electricity, water and gas.

He condemned a caretaker minister for asking the deposed chief justice to vacate his residence. “If he is interested in getting the official residences vacated, he should get the Army House vacated from Gen (retd) Musharraf first,” Mr Ahsan said.

Former Supreme Court Bar Association (SBCA) president Munir A. Malik said that only an executive order was sufficient to enable deposed judges to assume charge of their offices, but a resolution adopted by newly elected parliament would certainly strengthen the position of judges.

“We believe that judges stood reinstated after the lifting of emergency and only an executive order is sufficient to restore them to the pre-Nov 3 position.

“However, a resolution from parliament will be needed to strengthen this position,” he said.

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Interim govt. trying to make the SC 'validated' amendments a part of constituition

By Nasir Iqbal and Ashraf Mumtaz

ISLAMABAD / LAHORE, Feb 23: Controversy lies in store for the opening session of the new National Assembly as the interim government’s legal experts have decided to get printed a fresh edition of the Constitution, incorporating all amendments introduced by President Pervez Musharraf during the emergency rule.

The question haunting the PML-N and PPP’s legislators-elect alike is: will they take oath under the amended Constitution, which has been ‘validated’ by the Supreme Court?

Both parties have already rejected these amendments and termed them “unconstitutional and invalid”. They contend that the amendments have been made by an individual instead of the parliament.

The government insists the imposition of emergency (on Nov 3), the enforcement of the Provisional Constitution Order, sacking of judges and other steps taken by the president during emergency had been validated by the apex court and made part of the Constitution.

It also asserts that the legislators-elect taking oath under the amended Constitution would, by implication, be endorsing all these steps.

The PPP has said that it would not give a blanket cover to all steps taken by President Musharraf during emergency.

A PML-N leader said on Saturday that the matter was under consideration and some solution would be found by the time the National Assembly holds its inaugural session.

“Obviously (the new version of) the Constitution would contain Article 270AAA under which amendments made before and during the … emergency rule were given perpetual legal cover,” said a senior government official.
Full Story

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PPP now wants 'Restoration of Judiciary'

(The News, Jan, 7): The jolted leadership of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is now talking of the restoration of pre-November 3 judiciary in accordance with the will and statement of its martyred leader Benazir Bhutto, which she made on the day of lifting of emergency, but in her own way.

The PPP will have no problem with the restoration of pre-November 3 judiciary which was sacked after the imposition of emergency by the then General Pervez Musharraf if it is done by the parliamentary committees comprising both government and opposition members in the new parliament.

A senior PPP leader when asked about the stance of her party said the party wants complete independence of the judiciary.This point has become the only issue on which the Charter of Demands between the PPP and the APDM was stuck and abandoned.

The text of the Charter, obtained by ‘The News’, shows the APDM wanted this language:

“All Supreme Court and High Court judges who were removed on 3rd November 2007 should be restored.”

The ARD position was:

“The courage and principled position taken by the judges of the superior judiciary who did not take oath under the PCO is recognised. The declaration of emergency dated 3rd November, 2007 issued by the chief of army staff be withdrawn. The Provisional Constitution Order be revoked and independence of the judiciary restored.”

When the PPP leader was asked about this and her party’s planning regarding this, she said that this issue might be discussed in today’s (Wednesday) Central Executive Committee meeting in Naudero. She, however, said that her party would need some time regarding this issue as still they are in mourning.

She disclosed that her party has decided in life time of Benazir Bhutto that even the new appointments in the superior judiciary would be made by the parliamentary committee comprising the parliamentarians from both the government and opposition and there should be no role of any dictator or any one man.

She said that her party wants that this parliamentary committee should even consider the restoration of judges sacked for not taking oath under the first PCO of the then General, Pervez Musharraf, in 2000.

On the other hand Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, vice-president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) told The News Tuesday that restoration of deposed judges would be on top of his party’s campaign in the last six days of electioneering. He said that he hoped that once in the new parliament PPP would definitely support the restoration of sacked judges.

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Justice Iftikhar rejects Musharraf blames to justify 'Emergency'

ISLAMABAD:Former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has rejecting the blames leveled by President General Pervez Musharraf to justify declaration of emergency.

Listen the Speech of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary

The rulers had feared that Supreme Court would give decree in Musharraf eligibility contrary to their wishes so they imposed emergency in the country, Justice Iftikhar said.

Iftikhar Chaudhry was addressing the lawyers first time after imposition of the emergency. He said that thecharges framed by President Musharraf against SupremeCourt are baseless and unfounded.

Declaration of emergency has damaged the constitution, he said, adding that Supreme Court had always worked within constitutional framework.

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