PCO judges: Asma unhappy with apex court’s decision

PCO judges should be tried by the Supreme Judicial Council.

LAHORE: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Asma Jahangir has strongly condemned the Supreme Court’s (SC’s) judgment initiating contempt of court proceedings against nine PCO judges.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Jahangir said she was against the oath taken under the PCO but it was improper for the SC to initiate the proceedings against sitting judges. She said the proper forum to hold contempt proceedings was the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). She also said the decision was made public which was also improper. The court instead of issuing notice to Pervez Musharraf, then the former prime minister Shaukat Aziz and the corps commander, only issued notices to the judges, she added.

Jahangir said the judiciary was “cutting off its roots” by taking such steps. She stressed that the SJC should decide the fate of PCO judges. She said that it was unreasonable to issue notices to these judges, instead they should have been sent home or references, stating that they were dysfunctional yet sitting judges, should have been field with the SJC against them.

The SC’s decision, she said, would make judges fear one another and the dignity of the judiciary would be at stake. She said this was the first time in Pakistan’s history that sitting judges were prosecuted for contempt of court.

She also denied the report that the SC had issued notices to Musharraf, Aziz, corps commanders and many retired army officers for collaborating in imposing the emergency.

The lawyers, she said, started the struggle for the reinstatement of the judiciary at a time when the judges had given up all hope for its restoration. She pointed out that she had been the petitioner in the Asma Jillani Case and many judges on the bench that decided the case had taken the oath under the PCO. She recommended that a check and balance system should be introduced on the appointment and performance of judges.

Answering a question regarding the Davis shooting, Jahangir was of the opinion that courts, and not the government, should decide the question of diplomatic immunity.

Advocate Hamid Khan, commenting on Jahangir’s views, said that everyone was equal before the law and no judge had immunity after committing contempt of court. He said the SJC was not authorised to hold contempt proceedings against judges.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd,  2011.