Aitzaz threatens court boycott if (Musharraf-Dogar)SC stays NA resolution--->The News

ISLAMABAD: President Supreme Court Bar Association Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan on Monday threatened countrywide boycott of the courts if the Supreme Court granted stay against the parliament resolution for the restoration of the pre-November 3, 2007 judiciary.

“The legal fraternity across the country will bring out rallies and stage protest demonstrations if the Supreme Court granted stay, restraining the members of parliament from passing a resolution for the restoration of the November 2, 2007 judiciary”, Ahsan told a hurriedly called press conference at his residence here.

He said that if the apex court granted stay against the parliament resolution, they would place photographs of all those judges responsible for the said stay on the notice boards of all the bar associations across the country. However, he said that not a single photo of the judge would be disfigured and if any photo was disfigured it would be replaced with a fresh one.

“A parliament resolution is required not for the restoration of judiciary of November 2, 2007 but to strengthen the hands of the executive that parliament stands behind the judges who declined to take oath under the PCO of 2007”, Aitzaz maintained.

A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday against the Murree Accord, praying the apex court to restrain the members of both houses of parliament from passing any resolution or enactment through simple majority against the orders passed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Similarly, Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar has called a meeting of the full court of the Supreme Court today (Tuesday) wherein all the judges of the apex court who took oath under the PCO 2007 would participate.

Aitzaz referred to two developments, which took place on Monday, including filing of a petition in the apex court seeking stay against the parliament’s resolution and calling of full court meeting by the PCO court on a short notice.

He wondered why a full court meeting was called in haste. He said that the PCO court had no jurisdiction to interfere in the affairs of parliament, saying judges who took oath under the PCO were not validated by parliament.

“We have been very accommodating and we don’t want any confrontation and had earlier announced that judges who were in the Supreme Court on November 2, 2007 could be restored along with the deposed judges and Justice Dogar should also continue as judge”, he said.

He said that if a stay is granted, they will not ensure flexibility and there will be no space for any judge who took oath under the PCO. “If a stay is granted it will be contrary to the judgments of Supreme Court including the Ahmed Saeed Kirmani case of 1955,the Colnol Farzand Ali case 1970 and the Federal Government Reference of 1973”, he added.

He said that the court has no jurisdiction to interfere in the affairs of parliament and this will be a negation of democratic process. He said the lawyers would wait for 30 days for the new government to restore the deposed judges, and would remain peaceful during this period.

He said they believe in continuing their peaceful movement for the restoration of the judges and the rule of law as they proved earlier when the lawyers remained on roads for hundreds of hour but not a leaf was trampled during their movement.

He said that soon after his release, deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry along with other judges of the superior judiciary would address bar councils across the country as he has been invited to do so.

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