Re: 38 Superior Judges take oath under PCO
What good is a judge if he/she can’t even grant a simple bail?
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=11024
No held leader can get bail under PCO
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf has quietly clipped the powers of the judiciary to grant bail to all those defiant political workers, leaders, lawyers and members of the civil society who were arrested after the imposition of the emergency in the country on November 3 and are now in jail.
Most of the top leaders like Aitzaz Ahsan, Javed Hashmi, Gen (Retd) Hameed Gul and hundreds of others who were arrested during the last three days have been deprived of their basic human rights to approach the courts to seek justice.
Although, protests are being made all over the world over the arrests of lawyers and political leaders in Pakistan, no court can take up their bail cases under the new laws. The oath taken by the judges under the PCO has further made it constitutionally impossible for the judiciary to hear the cases of these leaders and workers. Under the PCO oath administered to these judges after the emergency, every judge has declared that “I (judge) will abide by the provision of proclamation of emergency of November 3, the Provisional Constitutional Order No 1, 2007 and the code of conduct issued by the Supreme Judicial Council.”
When contacted by The News, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, confirmed that this was true that the judiciary would not be in a position to grant bails to all those who had been detained so far or would be arrested in the days to come after the imposition of emergency.
Dr Niazi rather made a sarcastic remark that it was quite unfortunate that many so-called journalists and educated people of the society had so far not bothered to read the original contents of the proclamation of emergency.
Dr Niazi claimed under these new measures taken by General Musharraf, the judiciary would not be in a position to grant bails even to those who had been arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). He said otherwise the MPO was a bailable offence but not any more after the emergency.
Meanwhile, at the time of the proclamation of emergency in the country, General Musharraf had quietly suspended the Articles 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 and 19 and 25. According the suspended article 9, no person shall be deprived of life or liberty in accordance with the law. Likewise, article 10 says (1) no person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed as soon as may be of the grounds for such arrest, nor shall he be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.
Article 15 says that every citizen shall have the right to remain in and subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by the law in the public interest and move freely throughout Pakistan to reside and settle in any part.
Article 16 says that every citizen shall have the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by the law in the interests of the public order.
Article 17 says that every citizen shall have the right to form associations or unions, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of (sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, public order or morality).
Article 25 says all the citizens shall be not be discriminated on the basis of sex, all citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of law, nothing in this article shall prevent the state from making any special protection of women and children. But, now all these rights have been snatched away with the stroke of a pen.