SC issues notice to Attorney General over de-notification of PCO judges

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the Attorney General for Pakistan to appear on Friday and explain the position regarding issuance of de-notification of a number of former judges who took oath under annulled Provisional Constitutional Order of 2007.

A larger bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on a set of appeals had directed the government on May 18 to issue a notification under its previous order declaring a set of former judges who served after Pervez Musharraf's proclamation of emergency of November 3, 2007 and making whole of superior judiciary dysfunctional.

The hearing of the case was fixed before a bench headed by the Chief Justice.

On May 18, in its detailed judgment on the PCO judges' intra-court appeals, the Apex Court held that since the November 3, 2007 actions of former president Pervez Musharraf were declared unconstitutional in its July 31, 2009 order and later not validated by the Parliament in the 18th Amendment, so all the PCO judges ceased to hold offices.

The Court had also directed the Federal Law Secretary to issue notifications regarding the removal of these judges because they were no more entitled to hold their offices after April 20, 2010, the day the 18th Constitutional Amendment was passed.

Seven judges have been facing contempt of court proceedings after they decided to challenge apex Court's verdict on the issue. These were Justice Hasnat Ahmed Khan, Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, Justice Syed Hamid Ali Shah, Justice (r) Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhary, Justice Syed Sajjad Hussain Shah and Justice Yasmin Abbasey and Justice Jahanzaib Rahim.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011