A senior lawyer in an open letter written to Federal Law Minister has claimed that Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar is not the constitutional Chief Justice of Pakistan as his appointment was made through an order passed by the then Chief of Army Staff who has no constitutional power for this exercise.
Advocate AK Dogar in his letter says though a Supreme Court Bench had validated the 'extra-constitutional' steps taken by General Pervez Musharraf on November 3, including the PCO and oath by the Superior Court judges under the same whereof the appointment of Justice Dogar also stands validated but the fact is an Army Chief does not have the constitutional powers in this regard.
He said, the law minister had a point in asserting that the unconstitutional removal of the judges of the supreme court cannot be set right through another unconstitutional act of restoring them through an executive order and he has been insisting, these judges can be restored through a Constitutional Amendment only. The lawyer says Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar is not a validly appointed Chief Justice and in his presence the entire Supreme Court is not functioning constitutionally.