December 09, 2007	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 28, 1428

MULTAN, Dec 8: Deposed Lahore High Court judge Jahangir Arshad has said foreign diplomats in Pakistan are violating all norms of diplomacy, appealing to the civil society and lawyers all over the world, especially Americans and Europeans, to pressure the governments to stop interference in the country’s internal matters.

Speaking to Dawn on Saturday, Justice Jahangir asked if Saudi, US or European governments would allow any diplomat in their countries to meet the chief justices of their countries.

He said instead of putting pressure on Pakistani judiciary, the diplomats in Islamabad should force the government to restore the constitution and reinstate the judges.

Giving his message to the entire bar associations of Pakistan, he asked them to condemn the attitude of diplomats who were interfering in the internal matters and backing the ‘one-man rule’.

He said on the one hand the government ministers and attorney general were saying that judges were free and, on the other hand, the government had detained judges in Lahore which was a highly condemnable act.

He said the order of removal of the deposed judges had no legal validation because only the Supreme Judicial Council could remove the judges under Article 208 of constitution. Neither president nor cabinet division was authorised to remove or retire any judge, he added.