LAHORE, July 20: Former Punjab chief minister Mian Manzoor Wattoo, appreciating the Supreme Court’s verdict, requested Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to pay a courtesy call on President Musharraf to show his greatness.

Such a meeting, he said, would bring an end to the bitterness between the two.

Wattoo hoped that the apex court verdict would strengthen all state institutions.

He congratulated the people on the independence of the judiciary and the lawyers on the success of their struggle.

Former army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg believed that the Supreme Court judgment would bury for good the possibility of any future martial law. Now the apex court would not validate any military intervention nor invoke the infamous doctrine of necessity, he said.

He said a real robust democratic order would be established in the country for the first time. Similarly, he said, now the weak and the oppressed would also get justice.

Gen Beg said the government and the chief justice were under obligation to see that the impact of the judgment was correctly assessed and suitable actions were taken to face the challenges ahead, especially the upcoming elections.

The government, he said, should take the judgment with a cool mind and be not vindictive. Likewise, he said, the CJP should not create any problem for the government while performing his judicial functions.

Gen Beg said while dealing with the human rights cases the CJP should be extra careful. He said the judgment was historic which would have long-term consequences. — Correspondent