Islamabad: Eight former judges of Pakistan's Supreme Court including three chief justices - have said "a simple resolution" in Parliament will be enough to reinstate the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during last year's emergency rule.
"A simple resolution in the National Assembly (lower house of Parliament) reflecting the intention of the people s representatives to deny affirmation to the purported amendments would provide more than sufficient backing for the executive to do the needful," the former judges said in a joint statement.
"The removal of judges, which was admittedly unconstitutional being in defiance of Article 209 of the Constitution, could not be validated by the unilateral act of one individual through the so called introduction of Article 270-AAA and purported amendments to 270-C in the Constitution nor could it be validated by the Supreme Court," they said.
Musharraf's legal aides, including Attorney General Malik Qayyum, have insisted that the President's actions during the emergency, including the sacking of the judges, can be reversed only through a constitutional amendment passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
But the former judges said: "Since Article 270-AAA and 270-C (2) have not been adopted by two-thirds majority of Parliament, they are not part of the Constitution."
