KARACHI, 19 May — Former Chief Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqi, who resigned after refusing to swear loyalty to the military government last year, claimed in an interview here yesterday that he was persuaded by at least three top army officers to change his decision but he declined their offer.
“They (the generals) talked to me for four and a half hours but I told them I cannot act against my conscience. They wanted me to take oath under the provisional constitution which I refused,” he said.
Saeed and four other apex court judges had quit after the military government of Gen. Musharraf wanted them to take oath under the provisional constitution, called the Provisional Constitutional Order, that gave the army carte blanche to run the affairs of the country. Three of the judges who had resigned were Kamal Mansoor Alam, Mamoon Kazi and Khalilur Rehman.
Saeed said Musharraf had also spoken to him saying the military government was finding it difficult to run the affairs of the state because of limitations imposed by the country’s constitution. Musharraf said he wanted to make amendments to the constitution. “My answer to Gen. Musharraf was that the government will have to work according to the framework laid down in the constitution,” Saeed said. Saeed had three more years to complete his tenure when he resigned
About former Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, whose tussle with then Premier Nawaz Sharif was seen as a tug-of-war between the judiciary and the executive, Saeed said Shah had acted rather irresponsibly while being in office.
