Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum said on Tuesday that the parliament is a supreme body but deposed judges could only be restored through a two-third majority of the parliament by amending the constitution and not through a simple parliamentary resolution.
Talking to reporters in his office about the portion related to deposed judges in the March 9 Murree declaration by PPP and PML-N, the Attorney General (AG) said there was no question of restoration of deposed judges through a resolution of the parliament.
He said that the amendments, ordinances and extra-constitutional acts including National Reconciliation Ordinance-2007 had already been protected in the Constitution through Article 270-AAA.
Malik Qayyum said the Full Court of the Supreme Court had already declared all such extra-constitutional acts as justified and also ruled that the issue of deposed judges who did not take oath under PCO was a closed chapter.
He said there was a long history of extra-constitutional acts and issuance of PCOs of General Ayub Khan and General Zia-ul-Haq. Moreover, majority of deposed judges took oath under PCO issued by President Pervez Musharraf after taking over on October 12, 1999. And all these oaths had been justified through various decisions including the one in Syed Zafar Ali Shah case.
When asked whether the emergency was extra-constitutional act, the Attorney General Malik Qayyum said, "Yes, Yes and there is no doubt about it." About incumbent judges of the superior judiciary who took oath under PCO as well as later on under the Constitution of 1973, the Attorney General said, "These judges can only be removed through Supreme Judicial Council under Article 209 of the Constitution."
When asked about news reports suggesting his resignation, the Attorney General said, "I am Attorney General and working in my office. But I do not know who is interested in my resignation."
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