The Pakistan government has been forced to elevate judges from provincial high courts as most justices of the Supreme Court have refused to endorse the emergency.
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has been forced to elevate judges from provincial high courts as most justices of the Supreme Court have refused to endorse the emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf and take oath under the new dispensation.
The strength of the apex court too has been downsized from 17 to 12 - 11 judges and the Chief Justice, to make up for the shortage of judges willing to take oath under Musharraf's Provisional Constitutional Order.
Four judges from the high courts of Sindh, NWFP and Baluchistan provinces have been elevated to the apex court. Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, who was sworn in by Musharraf hours after he imposed emergency on Saturday, would administer the oath to them on Tuesday.
In his order suspending the Constitution and key fundamental rights, Musharraf had directed much of his ire against the superior judiciary, accusing it of what he said was unwarranted activism that had paralysed the government and affected the morale of law enforcement agencies.
Musharraf has also purged the judiciary of all judges perceived as being against his regime, including former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who is under house arrest along with several other judges of the apex court.
Only five judges of the apex court, including Chief Justice Dogar, have endorsed the emergency. This has forced the government to downsize the strength of the apex court.
Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayum, however, told 'The News' that this was 'purely an administrative decision and has nothing to do' with the emergency.
Qayum said only the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court could contact high court judges or senior lawyers for appointment in the apex court and then send his recommendations to the president.
He claimed that government officials had nothing to do with the appointment of new judges.
He also said the apex court would take retired judge Wajihuddin Ahmad's petition challenging Musharraf's candidature in the October 6 presidential election and expressed confidence that the government would win the case.
Chief Justice Dogar had, shortly after his appointment, cancelled all cases being heard by the apex court before the emergency, including the one related to Musharraf's re-election in uniform.
Reports have, meanwhile, suggested that the government had for the first time in Pakistan's history contacted some prominent lawyers for being appointed to the apex court but had been turned down.
Lawyers are currently at the front of protests against the emergency, and hundreds of them were arrested during demonstrations outside courthouses across the country.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}