ISLAMABAD – Sheikh Zameer Ahmed, lawyer for Justice Sajjad Hussain Shah – a dysfunctional judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC) who took oath under the PCO – on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that his client regretted taking oath in violation of the SC restraining order and had left himself on the court’s mercy.
A four-member bench of Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez was hearing contempt of court cases against the superior court judges who took oath under the PCO. Zameer also submitted a written unconditional apology in court on behalf of his client, in which Justice Sajjad Hussain Shah stated that he regretted taking oath under the PCO.
Justice Shah, however, said in his apology that while taking oath under the PCO, he had no knowledge about the restraining order. Justice Shabbar Raza Rizvi, another dysfunctional LHC judge, filed a civil miscellaneous application through his lawyer Dr Abdul Basit, asking the court to also take action against former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, then corps commanders and others, for violating the restraining order.
In his arguments, Dr Khalid Ranjha, lawyer for LHC’s former chief justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry, told the court that his clients accepted the November 3, 2007, restraining order. He said although his client took oath under the PCO, he did not get benefit for a long time. In his arguments, Dr Basit said the judges were forced to take oath. The proceedings were adjourned until today (Wednesday).
