LHC building not a shrine that can’t be demolished: CJ

* Administers oath to 4 LHC permanent judges
* Says 109 civil judges will be recruited

By Abid Butt

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry has said that the LHC building was not a shrine and thus it could be demolished or refurbished when needed.

The chief justice was talking to reporters after the oath taking ceremony of four judges confirmed by President General Pervez Musharraf through a notification on Thursday.

Justice Chaudhry said the LHC building needed refurbishing because it has been used for more than one hundred years.

However, he said, the reconstruction of the LHC building would not affect the 150-year-old facade of the building.

Justice Chaudhry said no other part of the LHC building would be touched after this reconstruction. He said the reconstruction was on schedule.

Asked about shortage of civil judges in Punjab, the chief justice said he had asked the Punjab Public Service Commission to recruit 109 more civil judges to overcome the deficiency.

The chief justice did not comment why higher authorities did not accept the recommendations he had made to confirm all the seven additional judges appointed for one year on September 3, 2003.

The chief justice earlier administered oath to the four permanent LHC judges, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, Sardar Muhammad Aslam, Sheikh Hakim Ali and M Bilal Khan.

LHC judges, law officers, senior lawyers and court officials attended the ceremony held in Judges Lounge on Friday.

The chief justice had recommended the confirmation of all the seven judges appointed last year, but only four of them were confirmed and Justice Muhammad Muzammal Khan was given one year extension as additional judge while justices Nasim Sabir and Muhammad Akram Baitu were relieved of their services.

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