Islamabad (IANS) : A judiciary official in Pakistan has been served contempt notice for asking a high court judge to vacate his official residence after he refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order.
Justice M.A. Shahid Siddiqui of the Lahore High Court, who did not take oath under the PCO promulgated by President Pervez Musharraf Nov 3, issued the notice to the registrar of the court Saturday.
The registrar, through a letter Nov 16, had asked the judge to vacate his official residence, Dawn reported Sunday.
“The issuance of the letter appears to be an attempt to intimidate and overawe the judges who have not surrendered to the chief of army staff,” said the notice the judge issued from his home.
“I, therefore, as a sitting judge of the Lahore High Court direct the registrar of this court to explain why and upon whose insistence he has issued the letter and asked me to vacate my official residence,” said the notice.
“This communication (the Nov 16 letter) is wholly illegal, totally in defiance of constitutional provisions and even against the normative values of decency,” the judge said.
Pakistan judges who have declined to abide by the PCO have not attended the courts since emergency was imposed.
Talking to Dawn, Justice Siddiqui said that after his notice to the registrar, an additional registrar had verbally asked him to abandon the official car. When he refused, they asked the driver to bring the car to the high court.
The judge said he had given up the driver but retained the car because he was entitled to it by virtue of his service.
“How could they ask me to vacate my residence when I’ve not been removed, dismissed or have retired as a judge,” he said.
He said he had been a judicial official for 26 years, with six years of service in the high court.