Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has rejected President Asif Ali Zardari’s reference sent to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against five PCO judges, saying that the president should be told the reference had no legal status.
According to private TV channels’ reports, the registrar of the Supreme Court, Faqir Hussain, wrote a letter to Law Secretary, Masood Chishty, on June 28 stating that the chief justice had refused to accept the reference. The chief justice was quoted in the letter as saying that perhaps the president was not told this, which is why he sent the reference to the SJC instead of sending the judges home.
According to the letter, the SC gave the verdict stating that PCO judges were constitutionally never deemed to be judges. Hence there is no validity to the references. The Supreme Court last month disposed off appeals of these judges and ordered their immediate removal.
Out of seven judges, two have been retired while five are still working. President Zardari sent the reference to the SJC saying that government doesn’t have the powers to remove the judges according to the constitution and only the SJC can remove the judges. It was stated in the reference whether judges had committed misconduct by taking oath under PCO and if they could be removed on this ground. It was also stated that after the SJC’s decision, the president would take the action.