ISLAMABAD: Deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Saturday emphatically declined to tender his resignation as chief justice of Pakistan till his retirement in 2013. The deposed chief justice conveyed this message while meeting a delegation of lawyers from Sahiwal, who called on him at his residence here on Saturday.

President of Rawalpindi Bar Council (RBC) Sardar Asmatullah also accompanied the delegation. The lawyers’ movement started the day chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was ousted for the first time. They turned out victorious and the chief justice was reinstated on July 20 last year.

But, on November 3 last year, General Pervaz Musharraf once again ousted and detained Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry to protect his disputed presidency from legal wrangling. After Murree declaration, the lawyers’ community has calmed down and agreed to wait for 30 days as asked by the politicians to reinstate deposed judges, including Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

But, a perception is emerging from contradictory statements of politicians in finalising a modus operandi to address the issue. Similarly, minus one formula, allegedly given by the presidency, asks for exclusion of Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhy as for as restoration is concerned.

A day earlier, a media report also suggested that the chief justice would resign from his office after his reinstatement. Sardar Asmat told this scribe that the chief justice, commenting on the media report, had categorically dispelled the notion, and said he would hold the office till his retirement.

“That day is not far away when the nation’s dream of an independent judiciary will come true, and he will not let the nation down”, he said. Responding to a question on restoration of deposed judges in 30 days, Sardar Asmat said that “we are hopeful that the parliament will resolve the issue amicably within the given timeframe announced in the Murree declaration.”

He said that “countdown” had started after the oath taking of the Federal cabinet and “we are patiently waiting, as we do not want confrontation with the parliament. The politicians cannot betray the nation on this issue,” he added.

If restoration of deposed judges became a stalemate, the lawyers would resume their movement, he said, adding: “We are not ambitious to engage ourselves in politics, rather are striving to establish rule of law in the country.”

He said that the presidency was still hatching conspiracies to derail democratic process and demoralise lawyers’ movement. “Recent spate of violence across the country is result of such efforts,” he added. AAJ

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