He said names of the committee members as decided by the cabinet to finalise modalities of the restoration of sacked judges have been submitted to the prime minister but it has not yet been approved.
He said he could not divulge names unless they are approved by the prime minister. He had recommended the constitution of the committee a day after the first cabinet meeting. He explained that it would be up to the committee to decide whether sacked judges would be restored through a parliamentary resolution or through a constitutional amendment.
He, however, insisted that the final decision would be taken by parliament, which was the supreme institution for legislation. This statement of the law minister is in complete contrast to the Murree Declaration, signed by Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, which clearly said that the restoration of the deposed judges would be done through a national assembly resolution.
Another top legal mind of the PPP Sardar Latif Khosa, too, has been expressing his views that the constitutional changes made by President Musharraf through his PCOs are now part of the constitution.
In Geo TV talkshow, Capitaltalk, he had said the Constitution stands amended after the Nov 3 PCOs. This viewpoint of Khosa is contrary to the political stance of the party and its allies that the right to amend the Constitution is solely with parliament.
On the very first day of the new assembly, before talking the oath it was PPP’s Naveed Qamar, who had clearly said that they do not accept the PCO-amended Constitution and would therefore take oath under the Constitution as it was on Nov 2, 2007.
A column written by another PPP legal mind, Babar Awan, which appeared in daily Jang of April 2, also raised many eyebrows as the writing was construed as part of a campaign against deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Asif Ali Zardari, however, has said more than once that he is committed to the Murree Declaration. During his recent joint press conference with Nawaz Sharif at Raiwind, he said the Murree Declaration is quite clear, adding the judges’ restoration issue is not a complicated matter as presented by different circles.
But at the same time there are some who apprehend whether Asif Ali Zardari is serious about what he is publicly claiming or has something else up his sleeves and whether he is going to give legal cover to the illegal and unconstitutional acts of President Musharraf.
Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that despite the fact that the new government is in place, almost all key appointments, including that of attorney-general, the law secretary and key intelligence officers, who have been playing important role during the judicial crisis to the benefit of President Musharraf have remained unchanged.
The interior secretary, who was one of the prime witnesses against deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the Presidential reference filed on March 9, 2007, is still untouched despite being a retired bureaucrat who was re-hired on contract.
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