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LHC bar fails to adopt resolution against oath under PCO

Recorder Report

LAHORE: A resolution condemning the action of the judges who took oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) could not be carried by the Lahore High Court Bar Association as members exchanged hot words, creating a lot of fuss.

The President of the Bar, Ahmed Javed Jillani, assessing the situation adjourned the meeting announcing that the resolution may be reconsidered at some suitable time.

Earlier, when Secretary of the Bar asked the members to express their views on the resolution, some of them opposed the move and asked him to just table the resolution and present it for voting.

Some other members contended that all the PCOs promulgated in the country so far should also be condemned.

The members began to make noise in support of their views on the issue. They later began to exchange hot words and created fuss, as a result of which the President adjourned the meeting.

The resolution, moved by Ghulam Haider Al-Ghazali, expressed appreciation for those judges who did not take oath. "They protected the Constitution and made their name in history," he added.

It was also stated that the action of the government to administer oath to the judges under PCO showed the mala fide intentions of the Chief Executive.

The resolution also said that this action of the Chief Executive had damaged the image of the judiciary.

It also asserted that the action to administer oath to the judges under PCO was illegal, unconstitutional and amounted to one-man dictatorship.

The resolution also held that such actions of the government would cause damage to the dignity of Pakistan.