Why Was Senior Hindu Judge Excluded ?

New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) The exclusion of a senior Hindu Judge from a judicial panel considering complaints against Pakistan's suspended Chief Justice raises 'serious' questions about its bona fides, a New Delhi-based International Bench and Bar Association said tonight.

''The President has every right to make reference to Supreme Judicial Council under Article 209 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan,'' a statement by the Association said.

''But he could not have been suspended or sacked even before findings given by Supreme Judicial Council,'' IBBA president Ravi Prakash Gupta said.

The Association is claimed to have among members Chief Justices and Judges of more than 50 countries.

''The said sacking of a Chief Justice even before findings given by the Supreme Judicial Council would lay down very bad precedent which is both shocking and deplorable,'' it said.

The Association ''demands that Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, second in seniority, being a Hindu, ought to have been included in the Supreme Judicial Council as per Article 180 of the Constitution.'' The statement said his non-inclusion ''raises serious doubt over the constitution of Supreme Judicial Council.'' The Association ''fully supports the call of Pakistan Bar Council to challenge the legitimacy of the Supreme Judicial Council if the judges are selectively chosen as (its) members.'' The Association advocated ''open trial'' without debarring media from proceedings.

UNI