LAHORE, June 30: Gen Pervez Musharraf has no plan to withdraw the reference against Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, a step the opposition parties and the lawyers’ community think may de-escalate the tensions the country has been in the grip of since March 9, the president’s counsel says.

Malik Muhammad Qayyum told Dawn on Saturday that the president wanted the reference decided by a judicial forum, no matter whether it was the Supreme Court or the Supreme Judicial Council.

The question of withdrawing the reference would have been relevant if the president had made a mistake by referring the matter to the apex court, Malik Qayyum said, adding that Gen Musharraf did not think he had done some unconstitutional.

A former judge of the Lahore High Court, Malik Qayyum said the president had no personal grudge against the CJP and had performed only his constitutional duty by forwarding the reference under advice from the prime minister. So far, he said, no proposal was under consideration of the president or the prime minister to send another reference against Justice Chaudhry, but Gen Musharraf would have to act on the premier’s advice if another reference was prepared.

Answering a question, Malik Qayyum said he still held the same view that the Supreme Judicial Council was the competent forum for the accountability of judges and the chief justice. As regards his statement that the government would have no objection if the Supreme Court, and not the Supreme Judicial Council, decided the matter, he said it was “an offer”, not a constitutional argument, to resolve the matter. The offer, he said, had been made mainly to show the “good intentions” of the government.

Replying to a question, he said the Supreme Court would give a decision on the reference only if it agreed with Mr Aitzaz Ahsan’s argument that Article 209 was not applicable to the chief justice. But if the court concluded that all judges, including the chief justice, were accountable to the Supreme Judicial Council, then the Supreme Court would have no jurisdiction.

He said the president wanted the matter settled as to which was the competent forum to decide such matters. Gen Musharraf, he said, would abide by any decision on the subject.

In response to a question, Malik Qayyum defended Gen Musharraf’s decision to forward the reference to the apex court. Had he not done so, it would have been mala fide on his part and people would have got an opportunity to allege that he was protecting “an erring judge”.

When reminded that the president had still not revealed the things he had promised he would to substantiate allegations against Justice Chaudhry, Malik Qayyum said since the apex court was seized with the matter Gen Musharraf would not like to say anything on the subject.

He said the president and the CJP had very good relations and they had not talked against each other even after the filing of the reference. He said in case the CJP was reinstated, the president, the prime minister and Justice Chaudhry would play their respective roles. He did not see any problem in their working together.