Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) would not allow anyone to take over lawyers' movement for reinstatement of deposed judges; being the parent body of the legal fraternity in the country it is prerogative of the PBC to lead, said Said-ur-Rehman, vice chairman PBC while addressing the media at Supreme Court, here on Saturday.
Earlier on August 9, the PBC had disowned the August 14 deadline for the government to reinstate deposed judges, saying it was a pronouncement of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and has nothing to do with the PBC. On Saturday, Rehman made it clear that the PBC would pilot the movement instead of the SCBA.
It was a clear message for Aitzaz Ahsan, the president SCBA, the iconic leader of the movement to go after the PBC. The lawyers' movement took its start at the time Aitzaz was not even elected as president of the SCBA. His tenure is going to end after two months but the movement would remain in tact till the reinstatement of deposed judges, said Rehman.
'We do not want any confrontation among the lawyers, rather invite the SCBA to go along with the PBC for the restoration of the judiciary', he added. He said that we (lawyers) are striving for establishing rule of law in the country and would continue to play our role for the betterment of the country. Rehman vowed for the restoration of November 2, 2007 judiciary while rejecting minus one formula which implies reinstatement of all deposed judges except Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
The reinstatement of deposed judges without Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would not be acceptable to the fraternity, he maintained. The PBC will not endorse the unconstitutional steps taken by the former President Pervez Musharraf. 'We are not in favour of giving indemnity to the steps taken by the former president', he added.
Rehman said, on September 12 the PBC will convene a meeting of provincial bar associations for designing future plan of action in order to streamline the movement.
Pervez Inyat Malik, member PBC told the reporters that the council has approved the decision for the replacement of Rasheed A. Rizvi by Yaseen Azad as chairman Executive Committee, PBC. In addition, Hamid Khan is no longer a member of PBC Executive Committee, he added. He said 14 out of 17 members of the council voted for the decision whereas only three members went against the decision.
Those who opposed these moves included Ali Ahmed Kurd, Rasheed A. Rizvi and Abdul Rehman Ansari. Federal Law Minister Farooq H. Naek handed over the cheque of Rs 50 million to the PBC Chairman. He reiterated that the parliament would table resolution for the reinstatement of deposed judges on Monday.
The government is committed to resolve the issue as early as possible, he added. 'The decision taken by the parliament would have to be accepted by all forces regarding the reinstatement of deposed judges', Neak asserted. The PBC also passed two resolutions regarding the resignation of former President Pervez Musharraf and appointment of Senator Latif Khosa from PPP as Attorney General for Pakistan.
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