KARACHI, May 14: The government’s latest move to create dissension in the ranks of the judiciary by offering to ‘re-appoint’ judges of the high courts who were deposed on November 3 last year appears to be succeeding partially as the affected judges have started to at least discuss the merits or demerits of accepting such an offer.

On Tuesday, through different emissaries including some judges of the superior judiciary who are currently serving on the bench, the government contacted deposed judges of the Lahore and Sindh high courts and offered to re-appoint them if they were willing to take a fresh oath.

“We were also told that our seniority and other benefits would remain as if we have been in continuous service,” said one judge, but added that the fear was that “if we don’t play ball in the future, someone could challenge our re-appointments on the grounds that the rights of the judges who did take oath under the PCO (Provisional Constitution Order) of November 3, 2007, had been violated. What would happen in such a case? Who would sit in judgment then?”

This was the reason, a source said, that the initial response of some of the affected high court judges appeared to be in the negative. “If there was nothing sinister up their sleeves why would they not just restore us rather than offer to re-appoint us.”

However, a well-placed source said that some other judges were ‘heartbroken’ with the attitude of the governing party which, despite a popular mandate, seems to be “too beholden to the president and those who have validated the NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) to deliver on the restoration promise”.

“They won the election on February 18. Even if they wanted to restore the judges through a constitutional amendment, they have now had three months to draft it. But they haven’t,” said one judge.

It is a group of justices holding this view that is in favour of agreeing to a ‘re-appointment’ and is now engaged in an intense debate with deposed colleagues who are dead against accepting the government offer.

It was not clear whether the new move originated at the presidency or was initiated by the PPP-led government.

Interestingly enough, while the debate has started it is not as if one or the other group of judges dominates in number. “Let’s take the example of the Sindh High Court. Of the 23 judges on Nov 2, only nine took oath under the PCO. The remaining 14 are now divided nearly equally three ways with two groups in opposite camps and one sitting on the fence, waiting for the ‘majority’ decision,” one senior lawyer told Dawn.

One of the key planks of the government policy appears to be to convince the high court judges -- though Dawn was unable to confirm if a similar offer was made to the Peshawar High Court judges as well -- that they should look after their own interests so as to then only leave the Supreme Court issue still pending a resolution.

However, the major pitfall of the re-appointment option is said to be an acceptance that the deposed judges had ceased to be members of the judiciary post-Nov 3, 2007, and, therefore, by implication accepting the legality of the Chief of the Army Staff’s action on the day. Of course, this is despite restoration of the judges’ seniority and perks etc.