Judiciary has to protect the constitution: SC

Hearing a case about the judges, who took oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) of November 3, 2007, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq did not tell the court whether the PCO was ratified by parliament or not, while the 18th Amendment had also not ratified the PCO.The chief justice said that after the amendment to the Article 6 of the constitution, no one would dare to break the constitution. The attorney general said in his reply that only the Supreme Judicial Council could take up the matter of the PCO judges.The lawyer for Justice (r) Iftikhar Hussain Chuadhry, Khalid Ranjha, said that on November 3, the Lahore High Court building was besieged and judges were denied to contact each other. If it proves that his client received the Supreme Court’s order about the nullification of the PCO, he should be pleaded guilty, Ranjha said.The chief justice said that 45 judges had accepted their mistake and sought an apology for their aversion from the constitution. He said that judges had been taking oath under the PCO, which were ratified by parliament but the PCO of November 2007 was not ratified.The chief justice said that the prosecution of the PCO judges was not the matter of individualism rather it was for the supremacy of the law.