KARACHI, July 10: The president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Aitzaz Ahsan on Thursday came under fire at the general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association for criticizing the role of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) in the lawyers’ movement during a press conference on Wednesday.

While addressing a meeting held at the Shuhada-i-Punjab Hall of the City Courts, Sindh Bar Council member Salahuddin Gandapur said that the PBC was the representative body of lawyers across the country and it was playing a very important role in the lawyers’ movement, while the SCBA represented the Supreme Court’s lawyers only.

He strongly condemned the statement of the SCBA chief blaming the PBC and said such acts could damage the lawyers’ ongoing movement for the restoration of pre-PCO judiciary.

Sindh Bar Council member Yaseen Azad also expressed concerns over the statement of Aitzaz Ahsan. “The differences between the PBC and SCBA must not be made public since it will seriously hurt the movement, which is going through a very critical stage,” he said. He urged both the bodies to resolve their differences through consultations and keep unity among their ranks.

He said the legal fraternity had no choice but to make the ongoing struggle successful as it was the last chance to establish an independent judiciary in the country. “It was for the first time that over 60 judges refused to take oath under the PCO. If our movement fails to reinstate them, then the country will never have an independent judiciary.”

He also condemned the ongoing military operation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and said such decisions should be approved through parliament.

KBA president Mahmood-ul-Hassan said the people wanted the pre-PCO judiciary and for this purpose they had elected the anti-Musharraf forces in the Feb 18 elections. But, he said, now parliament was backing Pervez Musharraf and the ruling parties were reluctant to reinstate the deposed judges.

KBA general-secretary Naeem Qureshi welcomed the recommendation of Yaseen Azad to call a meeting of the representatives of all the district bar associations of Sindh and said the Karachi Bar would host the meeting and invite lawyers’ representatives from across the province.

After the general body meeting, the lawyers took out a rally from the KBA office and staged a sit-in at M.A. Jinnah Road, suspending vehicular traffic for some time. They later dispersed peacefully. The lawyers chanted “go Musharraf go,” “go Zardari go” and pro-judiciary slogans during the rally. Heavy contingents of police were deployed around the KBA office.

Meanwhile, legal proceedings remained suspended at the City Courts and District Courts Malir on Thursday since the lawyers boycotted the courts in response to a strike call given by the Pakistan Bar Council to protest against the ousting of the judges.

Undertrial prisoners were brought to the police lock-up in the City Courts from different prisons, but their cases could not be heard due to the strike, hence they were taken back to their respective prisons. However, the judges remained in their chambers. Business activities in the premises of the City Courts also remained thin.

The president of the Malir Bar Association Amanullah Yousufzai told Dawn that lawyers also observed a complete strike at the District Courts Malir and a general body meeting was also held at the MBA office.