LAHORE, Oct 4: From the long march to a division in the bars to reappointment of deposed judges, the ebb and flow of the lawyers’ movement has raised doubts about its future.

Some independent observers believe the return of a majority of the deposed judges has sucked the steam out of the movement as evident from the fewer lawyers attending the rallies for the restoration of all the judges, including deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

While others wait in wind and twist to see whether the lapse of hot, holy month of Ramazan would pave way for another surge in the efforts to summon what the judiciary had on Nov 2.

Lawyers on both sides of the divide over the restoration of the (remaining) deposed judges believe time would unfold more twists in the campaign that has already witnessed several lows and highs.

The political parties that boycotted the February 18 election would certainly want to play up the whole issue in the hope of catching the bus they had already missed, said Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) member Raja Shafqat Abbasi.

Mr Abbasi, a former PPP MPA, says it was needless to pursue the movement in the face of a sovereign parliament and the government’s ‘resolve’ to bring back the rest of the deposed judges back to their offices. “Not even a single judge was brought back (after their removal) in the past. Besides, a Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, decided in Tikka Iqbal’s petition that judges’ removal was a past and closed transaction,” he added.

He said the PPP government should be given credit for restoring the judges and patience must be kept intact instead of embarking upon any misadventure. He added the lawyers’ community should know that their unity, which had been the hallmark of their struggle, was at stake if they did not realise the political imperatives.

He said the National Coordination Council (NCC), recently formed to head the movement, was encroaching upon the functions of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and did not represent all the lawyers. He added since a majority of the present PBC members were against boycotting court proceedings and taking out rallies, Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan came up with an alternative body without any legal backing.

He said the PBC, a statutory body, was set to meet after Eid to take stock of the situation and announce certain measures.

The lawyers in favour of the movement say the NCC, which has a thorough representation of lawyers from across the country, can carve out agenda to head the movement since the PBC has fall a victim to differences.

The NCC had representation of all the high court bar associations, members of the PBC and the SCBA, said former Supreme Court Bar Association president Hamid Khan. He added the movement would pick up after Eid as the NCC was meeting on November 3 to plan a big event to protest unconstitutional removal of judges.

He said the reappointment process was contrary to the Constitution and the lawyers’ demand to restore all the deposed judges including Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. “What miracle has this government performed by giving reappointment to judges? Even General (retired) Musharraf was ready to restore all the deposed judges sans Justice Chaudhry,” he said.

Mr Khan said the government should restore all the judges if it wanted to stave off opposition from banding together on the issue. He agreed issues such as terror fight were more crucial and required careful handling.

“They (government) have gone back on their words to satisfy ego of some persons. It’s (restoration) doable and they should do it,” he said.