KARACHI: Lawyers slam CJ’s visit to Sindh
Leaders of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA), the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) and the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) announced that a joint rally would be held in front of the Sindh High Court in a bid to prevent Justice Dogar from attending the ceremony.
Addressing lawyers at the SHCBA bar room, KBA president Mahmoodul Hasan, SBC member Salahuddin Gandapur and SHCBA secretary-general Munir-ur-Rahman stated that the legal community had rejected the PCO-judiciary and would not allow Justice Dogar to make an address on the premises of the Sindh High Court. Later, lawyers staged a demonstration outside the SHC cafeteria and chanted slogans against the current judiciary.
Meanwhile, addressing a KBA general body meeting that was held at the City Courts’ Shuhada-e-Punjab Hall, lawyers vowed to continue their struggle until all the deposed judges were reinstated. They also demanded that the government conduct an independent probe into the violent incidents witnessed in the city on April 9 this year.
April 9 violence condemned
Shahid Mehar, a member of the Pak-American lawyers’ association, demanded that the government bring to justice the people who perpetrated the violence on April 9. Highlighting the efforts of the Pak-American lawyers’ association in lobbying in the US for the restoration of Pakistan’s pre-PCO judges, he also lauded Pakistan’s legal community for sustaining the movement for over 14 months.
In a similar vein, SBC member Salahuddin Gandapur pointed out that though many brutal attacks had been launched against lawyers during their struggle, the government had not exposed the elements behind such incidents.
Alleging that people involved in the April 9 violence were now sitting in the provincial government, KBA secretary-general Naeem Qureshi said that the lawyers would not surrender to any pressure and would continue their struggle until the judiciary was restored to its Nov 2 position.
Mohammed Ali Abbassi of the People’s Lawyers’ Forum (PLF) stated that his organisation had supported the lawyers’ movement from day one and would continue to offer support until the deposed judges were reinstated. He condemned Justice Dogar’s visit to Sindh and said that the PLF did not accept the PCO-judges.
In his address, former KBA general-secretary Khalid Mumtaz strongly criticised the current government for delaying the reinstatement of the deposed judges. Accusing the dispensation of following an American agenda, he said that the government was putting its weight behind President Musharraf instead of impeaching him.
“Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani said in a statement that he was ready to issue an executive order for the reinstatement of the deposed judges if he was asked to do so by the Pakistan People’s Party,” said Mr Mumtaz. “It is obvious who is the main hurdle in the path of the judges reinstatement.”
Salahuddin Ahmed, son of the deposed chief justice of the Sindh High Court, reiterated that the current government was reluctant to restore the pre-PCO judiciary. He urged the legal community to maintain unity in order to make their movement successful. The KBA president announced that a joint general body meeting of the SHCBA, the Karachi Bar Association and the Malir Bar Association would be held at the Shuhada-i-Punjab Hall next Thursday [July 24], and that lawyers would take out a procession from the KBA office to the press club in order to lobby for the reinstatement of the deposed judges.
After the meeting, lawyers took out a rally from the KBA office and staged a sit-in on M.A. Jinnah Road, where traffic remained suspended until the protesters dispersed peacefully. Anti-Musharraf and anti-Zardari slogans were chanted, while heavy contingents of the police were deployed around the KBA office.
Lawyers boycott courts
Meanwhile, legal proceedings remained suspended at the City Courts and the Malir District Courts on Thursday because of the lawyers’ boycott in response to a strike call given by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) against the ousting of the judges.Undertrial prisoners from different jails were brought to the police lock-up in the City Courts but their cases could not be heard, while judges remained in their chambers. Business activities on the premises also remained thin, since lawyers forced the shopkeepers to shutter their shops.
The president of the Malir Bar Association (MBA), Amanullah Yousufzai, told Dawn that in accordance with the PBC call, lawyers had observed a complete boycott at the Malir District Courts on Thursday, and that a general body meeting had been held at the MBA office.