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Confusion over judges’ return

ISLAMABAD: A day after the announcement by Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Nawaz Sharif that the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf last year would be reinstated on May 12 by passing a parliamentary resolution, confusion persists over whether the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — the senior partner in the ruling coalition — accepts the new deadline.

Law Minister Farooq Naek of the PPP had indicated that May 12 is not an absolute deadline, and that a committee appointed to finalise the wording of the resolution would have to reach a consensus first. If differences arose in the six-member panel, the matter would be referred back to the leadership once again, and that could delay the resolution beyond May 12, said Mr. Naek to Geo TV.

The PPP’s Farahtullah Babar had also said he was not aware that May 12 had been decided as the deadline. He said he was not aware of a date being fixed in the talks between Mr. Sharif and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in Dubai. The PPP leader also distanced himself from the deadline in an interview to Aaj TV, saying it was all in the hands of the six-member committee and it depended on whether this panel could reach unanimity on the wording of the resolution.

The committee of six lawyers to be headed by Mr. Naek is known to hold divergent views on the issue. Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan, who has led the campaign for the restoration of the judges, is on the panel, but also included is a senior lawyer who has strongly articulated the position that the judges can be restored only by a constitutional amendment.

While the date announced by Mr. Sharif is up in the air, there is also uncertainty over how President Musharraf will react to the move to reinstating the judges.

There has been no official reaction yet from the presidency to Mr. Sharif’s announcement, but according to a report in the Dawn quoting unidentified sources, President Musharraf has indicated he will not block the return of the judges if he could be guaranteed legal indemnity for all the steps — excluding the dismissal of the judges — that he took during the November-December 2007 Emergency.

The President was also reported to be willing to give up his powers to dissolve Parliament and sack the government if he could be guaranteed such indemnity. The newspaper said hectic backchannel efforts were on between the presidency and the PPP to avoid a potential confrontation over this issue.

But legal experts are cautioning that in case President Musharraf decides to oppose the reinstatement of the judges, the Supreme Court headed by his handpicked Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar may stay the government order for reinstatement, following the resolution in the National Assembly.

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