Musharraf and CJP Dogar must be taken on board: Pirzada:

Expert says restoration without consent of all stakeholders will complicate issue By Irfan Ghauri and Masood Rehman ISLAMABAD: A court can issue a stay order against an executive order, legal experts have said. “[The] court can stay any order if it [is] deemed illegal or unconstitutional,” jurist Mujeeb Pirzada told Daily Times via telephone on Friday. He said that the PPP government had set a precedent in the past, when some judges were sacked and reinstated later. He said that after the restoration of sacked judges to a pre-November 3 position, the new judges could be accommodated according to seniority. Complications: He said the restoration of sacked judges through a parliamentary resolution followed by an executive order could complicate the issue if all stakeholders, including the president, the incumbent Supreme Court chief justice and the political parties were not taken on board. “In the current case, the president and incumbent CJ are direct stakeholders and their consultation is therefore a must,” Pirzada said. He said that the authority to appoint judges rests with the president, adding that the prime minister could not issue such an order without the prior consent of the president. Under the Constitution, he added, a president appointed SC judges on the CJ’s recommendation. Senior lawyer Akram Sheikh said the sitting judiciary would have to face “stiff resistance” from people if it issued any stay order against the executive order of the prime minister. He said that proceedings of parliament could not be challenged, but a law or bill could be challenged in a court of law. However, he said that an executive order could be challenged in court. “If [President Pervez] Musharraf and the establishment of Pakistan tries to get a stay order from PCO judges, it would be tantamount to deceiving the mandate of people, for which they would have to face stiff resistance,” Sheikh said. He said that since the new government had agreed to accommodate the present judiciary along with the sacked one, the incumbent judges should not take any step against the will of people. Regarding the legal aspects of accommodating the incumbent judges, Sheikh said they would keep functioning along with the restored judiciary. Justice (r) Fakhauddin G Ibrahim said that there was no need for an executive order to reinstate the judges. “Only a resolution is enough to restore them,” he said. “If someone forcibly stops you from going to office, will you need an executive order to rejoin the office?” he added. * Sharif’s efforts not for judges, says Elahi * Politicians should not exploit issue: Shujaat * May 12 is the final date, says Khawaja Asif * PML-Q willing to support PPP’s package * Coalition body members were not consulted * PBC hails announcement on judges’ restoration * PBC to discuss judges’ issue today * Bars praise Nawaz for announcing date * Civil society hail announcement