Islamabad: In a significant judgement, a Pakistan High Court has said that Parliament is the supreme authority to decide on the legality of the Constitutional amendments promulgated by President Pervez Musharraf.

Dismissing an intra-court appeal filed against the Legal Framework Order (LFO) which incorporated Musharraf's Constitutional amendments, a two-judge division bench of the Lahore High Court on April 10 said it cannot decide on such issues as they have to be settled by Parliament which was the supreme body.

The judgement came after Musharraf asserted that the LFO was legal, as he has been authorised by the Supreme Court to amend the Constitution. Besides recognising the election of Musharraf as President through a referendum in 2002, the LFO also conferred power on him to dissolve Parliament.

The division bench also said the decisions of the Supreme Court are binding and this court cannot sit to review them as a court of appeal.

While declining to go into legal issues involved in the case, the Lahore High Court quoted remarks of a US judge who said, "Those who put their hopes in Constitutions, laws or courts were mistaken. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women and when it died, no Constitution, no law and no court could do much to help it."

Almost all Opposition parties declined to recognise the LFO and asked the government to submit it for ratification by Parliament and the four provincial Assemblies as stipulated by the 1973 Constitution.

PTI