The meeting of the SAARC Law Council today was postponed till the third week of this month as its president Mehmood Mandidwala from Pakistan cancelled his visit, citing “personal reasons”. He was scheduled to chair the meeting.

“The legal Council will meet and decide a suitable course of action after all the members agree on a date for the meeting. For now, we have decided to postpone the meeting,” Mandidwala told The Indian Express on phone.

The agenda for the meeting was the ongoing constitutional crisis in Pakistan. The legal community in the region is critical of undemocratic manner in which the Pakistan Chief Justice was sacked and this issue was bound to crop up in the meeting.

According to sources, a resolution to show solidarity with the lawyers in Pakistan was to be passed after the meeting.

Regarding the ongoing controversy in Pakistan, Mandidwala said, “We don’t make comments on any political developments as basic objective of the SAARC Law Council is to promote legal cooperation in the region. As an affiliate body of the SAARC, I can only say that we are bound by the SAARC Charter and we will do whatever we have to within its jurisdiction.”

Earlier, the SAARC Law Conference was to take place on March 23 in Pakistan, but it was postponed as a mark of protest against Musharraf’s action in sacking the Chief Justice.

The sudden decision seems to be an effort to avoid any diplomatic crisis on the eve of the SAARC summit.