PCO case hearing: 'judges should not have taken oath under PCO'

The judges of superior courts, abiding by the Constitution, should not have taken oath under PCO when the then government sent them home and imposed emergency in the country. Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui remarked Wednesday while hearing contempt of court cases against judges who took oath under the PCO.
A four-member bench headed by Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui with Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Pervez heard the case. The Supreme Court is hearing some 11 petitions of PCO judges, who did not offer unconditional apology and decided to contest their cases in the court. The apex had already declared PCO as ab initio.
Naeem Bokhari, counsel for Justice Jehanzeb Rahim, while defending his client said history of the country is full of such examples...the judges used to take oath under such circumstances or they would not be able to reach superior courts. To further substantiate his argument, the counsel referred to Zaffar Ali Shah case - in which oath under PCO was declared legal. The judges took oath following the directives of the then president which can not be termed illegal or unconstitutional - they just followed the orders of the then president, he contended.
Justice Jawwad S Khawaja reiterated that it is the collective responsibility of all the institutions to abide by Article 6, which says any person who subverts the Constitution, shall be guilty of high treason. Ibrahim Satti, counsel for Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar - who took oath as chief justice of Pakistan under PCO, requested the court to announce its order on his plea as he had already concluded his arguments in favour of his client.
The court adjourned the hearing till Monday and Naeem Bokhari (advocate) will continue his arguments. Earlier, SM Zaffar, counsel for Justice Zahid Hussain, a PCO judge on Tuesday reiterated the superior courts' judges could not be served contempt of court notices at any cost. He had also said that PCO judges could be trailed under Article 209 of the Constitution through the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
The 10 judges who had not apologised to the SC and decided to contest the contempt cases include, Justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry (R), Justice Khurshid Bhinder, Justice Hamid Ali Shah, Justice Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, Justice Hasnat Ahmed Khan, Justice Shabbar Raza Rizvi, Justice Yasmin Abbasy, Justice Jehanzeb Rahim, Justice Zahid Hussain and Abdul Hameed Dogar.