Islamabad, May 10 (ANI): If sources close to the Presidential camp in Islamabad are to be believed, as part of the draft constitutional package, a new proposal to set-up two parallel Supreme Courts is being discussed to resolve the deposed judges' restoration issue.
While the one would be headed by deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to deal only with criminal and civil cases, the other would be led by the incumbent Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, to look after the constitutional matters.
Justice Dogar will have all the suo motu powers, and would handle the real issues that worry the presidency and the Zardari House, The News quoted the sources as saying.
The new constitutional court to be headed by Justice Dogar, whom Musharraf and Asif Zardari reportedly do not want to lose, would be named as the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC). It would be exclusively empowered to deal with all the constitutional issues, such as the interpretation of the Constitution, the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), constitutional controversies, the validity of President Musharraf and most importantly the suo motu actions.
The court to be headed by Iftikhar Chaudhry would be a sort of an appellate court on the high courts of the four provinces. This court will consist of the deposed colleagues along with some of the PCO judges.
The new constitutional package also envisages the formation of a parliamentary committee to scrutinise the judges as it was envisaged in the Charter of Democracy (CoD).
But, the above has not been confirmed by the federal law ministry, said the paper.
According to the paper, the new proposal contemplates the creation of a Federal Constitution Court, which would be headed by Justice Dogar with seven judges on the bench.
The status of both the courts with respect to perks and privileges of the judges, however, shall be at par and judges from one court to another court shall be transferable through exercise of executive authority.
PML-N threatens to quit cabinet if May 12 deadline not met
PML-N leader and former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif has reportedly called a joint meeting of his party's Central Working Committee and parliamentary group on May 12, to decide whether to continue to support the PPP-led federal coalition government.
May 12 is the fresh deadline for restoration of judges who were suspended by President Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007. The PML-N has been demanding their restoration, and it even included this demand in its manifesto prior to the February 18 polls.
The meeting would decide the party's line of action in case deposed judges of the superior courts were not reinstated by the May 12 deadline and negotiations between leaders of the PML-N and PPP in London failed to resolve the issue, the Dawn quoted PML-N spokesman Siddiqul Farooque as saying.
There was a possibility that the meeting might recommend withdrawal of the PML-N ministers from the cabinet, he said and added the PML-N had already announced that its ministers would quit the cabinet in case the judges were not reinstated to Nov 2, 2007 position.
Farooque further said the PML-N would quit the cabinet, but would not become a part of any move to destabilise the PPP government.
However, he said, if the judges were not reinstated the PML-N would join the nation, the civil society and lawyers' community as the party had made a commitment on the issue. "There is a possibility that if we fail to utilise parliament for resolving the judges' issue the party will have no option but to join the civil society and lawyers' movement and then streets may play the major role," he said.
Zardari-Nawaz London talks inconclusive
Lahore, May 10 (ANI): PML-L leader Nawaz Sharif has said that his talks with PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari to resolve the issue of restoration of Supreme Court judges ended inconclusively last evening in London.
He said that neither party reached any conclusion on the status of the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) judges.
Addressing media after the second round of talks, the former Pakistan premier said that his party did not recognise the PCO judges as valid judges, and that it had accepted them for the sake of the coalition and the restoration of the sacked judges.
The two parties disagreed on whether the pre-November 2, 2007, judiciary should decide the fate of the PCO judges or whether a constitutional amendment should resolve the issue, the Daily Times quoted him as saying.
Sharif further said that the PPP needed more time to consider the issue and that his party the PML-N would wait until May 12 to reveal its future strategy. (ANI)
