PBC demands probe into SC irregularity

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Thursday demanded a thorough investigation into embezzlement and corruption in the Supreme Court and more appropriate reprimand.

“Compulsory retirement is very lenient punishment for embezzlement. The registrar should be sent behind bars and a former judge should also be booked,” said PBC vice chairman Rasheed A Rizvi told a press conference on Thursday.

Mr Rizvi cited the white paper by the PBC against the judiciary in which a former chief justice was declared corrupt. He accused the registrar of making money in connivance with the former chief justice and said both should be prosecuted.

The vice chairman said that no high court was operating on full strength. There were nine vacant seats for judges in the Sindh High Court and an equal number in the Lahore High Court. In addition to these, there were hundreds of vacant posts in the lower judiciary which are delaying justice.

Hamid Khan, chairman of the Executive Committee, said lawyers were determined that there was no room for the 17th amendment in the Constitution and General Pervez Musharraf could never be accepted as an elected president. Mr Rizvi also attacked the recent out-of-turn promotions of judges and urged the current chief justice to follow the principle of seniority while promoting judges.

Tariq Mahmood, who is a former president of the Supreme Court Bar and a former Balochistan High Court judge, said the federal government must ensure provincial autonomy. Those who support the military operation in Balochistan and elsewhere have not gone through the Hamoodur Rehman Commission report, he said. “They must learn lessons from history so a situation like that of 1971 can be prevented,” said Mr Rizvi.

Referring to the Dr Shazia rape, Mr Rizvi said General Musharraf should not have backed the accused, Captain Hammad. “Now no investigation officer or judge will dare contradict General Musharraf’s verdict and charge the accused,” he said. staff report

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