LAHORE - Nearly 400 lawyers including women, who had actively participated in the Lawyers Movement for restoration of judiciary in 2009, have submitted a resolution in the Lahore High Court Bar Association to call its General House meeting to express solidarity with the superior courts especially Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
The lawyers throughout the country are divided into two groups when a bench of apex court headed by CJP had changed the election schedule for Presidential elections on a petition moved by PML-N leader Raja Zafarul Haq.
Anti-judiciary lawyers are criticising the judges of the apex court on the grounds of this decision, while the pro-judiciary lawyers terming the same as Constitutional.
According to the draft of the resolution signed by 400 lawyers including lady lawyers, an LHCBA member who belongs to PPP had on July 30 submitted a resolution in general house meeting urging the to file a reference in Supreme Judicial Council against CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and two other judges of the apex court.
In the signatory of this draft include senior lawyers namely Waqar Sarwar Khara, Rabia Bajwa, Azhar Siddique, Zaheer Zulfqar and many others. The draft said that the LHCBA accepted the resolution of the PPP lawyer after amending it which is violation of the Section 29(3) of the High Court Bar Rules.
The draft of the pro-judiciary lawyers resolution added that the earlier resolution of carried out by LHCBA was unconstitutional.
“Under article 209 of the Constitution, no reference against any judge can be filed in the SJC on the ground of any verdict issued by the same judge even against the CJP,” the draft added.
The draft said that the platform of LHCBA was used by the few lawyers of the PPP which is against the dignity of this forum. “The criticism on national institutions by few lawyers is meant to cause harm to democracy and country’s sovereignty,” it added.
“Few lawyers are maligning the judiciary at the behest of corrupt politicians and land mafias against whom the apex court has taken suo-moto notices against them and saved the national exchequer from them,” it maintained. The draft said that the lawyers should criticise the decisions of the courts, but they should not become agents of any political party.
The signatory of the draft demanded from President LHCBA Abid Saqi and Secretary Baleeghuz Zaman Chaudhry to call an immediate General House Meeting to take back the decision of filing the reference against apex court judges by accepting the fresh resolution.
Talking to the Nation, Abid Saqi said he had not yet see the draft for the resolution and would take decision on it as per rules after examining its contents. He said as per High Court Bar Rules no resolution could be carried out to disapprove or take back earlier one.
He said the decision of the General House meeting could not be withdrawn on the request of few lawyers.