Zardari fears deposed judges will reopen cases against him: Kh Sharif

[LRE]

Zardari fears deposed judges will reopen cases against him: Kh Sharif



Friday, July 25, 2008
By Our Correspondent

LAHORE

DEPOSED judge of the Lahore High Court, Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif has said PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari is not restoring the pre-November 3 judiciary because he fears reinstated judges might reopen cases against him.

Justice Sharif said that Zardari was looking for some guarantors that ‘deposed’ judges will not create any problem for him and President Musharraf after returning to their offices. He has yet not found any guarantor, he added.

Justice Sharif was addressing a general house meeting of the Lahore High Court Bar Association on Thursday prior to lawyers’ rally for the restoration of judiciary.

The ‘deposed’ judge said that honesty and integrity of the deposed judges was a threat for Asif and Musharraf. Another apprehension in their mind was that the deposed judges could restore the judgment of seven-member SC bench against oath of judges under November 3 PCO, he said.

He said the present government was unable to control the prevailing wave of price hike and lawlessness in the country because PPP leaders, including Asif Ali Zardari, did not respect promises made to the nation. He said the country was facing judicial and economic crisis only because politicians had forgotten their promises.

Justice Sharif said the sitting government was trying to create a rift between ‘deposed’ judges by giving offers to them individually but no judge will accept such offers.

He also rejected rumours about the oath of some of the ‘deposed’ judges, saying ‘deposed’ judges would not disappoint lawyers in any case by accepting any offer. LHCBA President Anwar Kamal and Secretary Rana Asadullah Khan also spoke on the occasion.

Later, lawyers came out of the Lahore High Court and were joined by lawyers of the Lahore Bar Association at GPO Chowk before heading towards Punjab Assembly Chowk.

Lawyers also joined hunger strike camps and wore black armbands in protest against the delay in the fulfilment of promises made to the lawyers and the nation by the sitting government. They vowed to continue their struggle for the rule of law and reinstatement of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and ‘deposed’ judges.

One hunger strike camp was set up by LHCBA and another by the Save Judiciary Committee (SJC) where lawyers continued visiting before and after the general house meeting and the weekly rally on The Mall.

Save Judiciary Committee Chairman Chaudhry Abdur Rasheed Qureshi, Secretary General Mian Jamil Akhter, Muhammad Ilyas Klasan, Rana Abad, Azmat Ali Chohan, Imran Akram, Imtiaz Ali Qureshi, Babar Ali Malik, Shahbaz Qureshi, Muhammad Yousaf and Hafiz Irfan Hanjrah joined hunger strike.

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