Attorney-General Irfan Qadir on Wednesday told media persons that he did not believe in quitting the post by resigning in his personal capacity without the consent of the appointing authority, the President of Pakistan. Talking to journalists in his office at the Supreme Court building here on Wednesday, Qadir said: "I have never thought of resigning from my position, but if my appointing authority (the President) asks me to leave, I shall resign."
Article 100 (2) stipulates, "Attorney-General shall hold office with the pleasure of the President." The attorney-general said the July 31, 2009 judgement, in which a 14-member bench of the Supreme Court had declared former President Pervez Musharraf usurper, was a bad verdict, as over 100 judges of high judiciary had been sent packing through this judgement without following procedure described in Article 209 of the Constitution. Irfan Qadir contended that the act of November 3, 2007 was not high treason but deviation from the Constitution, adding that in the past the courts had been validating military interventions, therefore, judges should show restraint in Musharraf case, as on November 3 the Constitution was held in abeyance for just a month, while other institutions remained intact and continued to function.
The attorney-general maintained that after the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other Supreme Court judges there were a number of judgements, including that of July 31, NRO and PM Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani's disqualification, which were inconsistent with the Constitution. He said that the inconsistencies should be removed and expected that Chief Justice before his retirement would remove these inconsistencies.
"We expect that the CJP will do away with the perception of partiality in the superior courts before his retirement," he added. He said that Parliament, through legislation, could also remove discrepancies, as the courts had no right to encroach upon the powers of others institutions. Expressing concern over the increase of contempt cases in the superior courts, the attorney-general said that issuance of contempt notices was never appreciated in the judicial history.
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