KARACHI, April 25: Police picked up as many as 20 lawyers and later released them as city lawyers boycotted courts on Thursday and held a protest rally against the upcoming presidential referendum.

Hundreds of lawyers, led by leaders of the Pakistan Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar Association, Sindh Bar Council, Sindh High Court Bar Association and Karachi Bar Association, assembled at Karachi Press Club, marching from the City Courts building through M. A. Jinnah Road.

Speaking at the rally, the speakers condemned the holding of the presidential referendum terming it illegal and unconstitutional.

Lawyers, mainly belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League Lawyers Forum (Nawaz Group), Pakistan Peoples Lawyers Forum and Islamic Lawyers Movement, chanted anti-government slogans.

As the lawyers were about to disperse after speeches by their leaders, a large number of policemen pounced upon them and bundled them into police vans. Some of the lawyers took shelter inside the press club when police began their action.

Later, police released the detained lawyers.

Earlier, the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) held a general body session at the City Courts and endorsed the decision of the Pakistan Bar Council to observe a complete boycott of courts on April 25.

The participants were addressed by Aqil Lodhi, member managing committee, the Sindh High Court Bar Association, Mohammed Yasin Azad, a former secretary- general of the KBA, Abdul Malik Khan, Akhtar Husain, a former secretary-general of the KBA, Abdul Haleem Pirzada, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and member of the Pakistan bar Council, Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, President of the KBA, and Mohammed Aqil, general secretary of the KBA.

Later, the KBA session unanimously adopted six resolutions.

The KBA meeting welcomed the resignation of Justice Tariq Mehmood and described it as a bold decision. It also announced a complete boycott of the upcoming presidential referendum.

The participants also condemned those lawyers who were violating the decisions of the All Pakistan lawyers Representative Conference to achieve their personal goals.

The meeting demanded of the government to hold impartial and transparent general elections as soon as possible and hand over power to the elected representatives of the people.

After the meeting, the protesting lawyers left the City Courts building around 12-noon and marched towards Karachi Press Club via M. A. Jinnah Road, Court Road and Sarwar Shaheed Road.

The City Courts building presented a deserted look as the majority of the lawyers participated in the procession.

A spokesman for the KBA said lawyers showed unity and they did not attend court proceedings, though a few others did appear in courts.

Witnesses said a large number of litigants — witnesses, paralegal staff, investigation officers, etc. — left the City Courts premises in utter dismay as even stamp vendors did not turn up due to the boycott.

Undertrial prisoners were not brought to the court.

However, UTPs, being tried in the anti-terrorism courts, accountability courts and the special anti-narcotics court, were brought to their respective courts, though their counsel preferred to stay away from the proceedings.

Proceedings at the Sindh High Court, however, continued as usual lawyers appearing before different benches. Some of them were Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, Sohail Zafar, Abdul Hafeez Lakho, Iqtidar Ali Hashmi, Raza Ali Hashmi, Kamal Azfar, Ali Ahmed Junejo, Munawwar Malik.

Rasheed A Rizvi, a member of the Pakistan Bar Counsel, told Dawn that no call had been given for boycotting proceedings at the Sindh High Court.

He said after the lawyers’ rally ended at the press club, an emergency meeting of the Sindh High Court Bar Association was held with its acting president, K. A. Wahab, in the chair. The meeting condemned the police action against lawyers.

CONDEMNED: The Pakistan People’s Party condemned the police action against peaceful demonstration by lawyers in Karachi against the holding of the presidential referendum, PPI adds.