March 14, 2007	Wednesday	Safar 24, 1428

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

LAHORE, March 13: The Lahore High Court Bar Association on Tuesday cancelled the membership of federal and Punjab law ministers.

The bar action against Wasi Zafar and Raja Basharat is part of lawyer’s drive against the government decision of making Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry non-functional.

Going a step further, the Punjab Bar Council issued a show-cause notice to Wasi, asking him “why not your licence as a lawyer be cancelled.”

Continuing with their protest, the lawyers in the city and elsewhere in Punjab observed Tuesday as `black day’ by boycotting court proceedings.

No violence reported anywhere except for Ferozwala, a town near Lahore, where three lawyers and a policeman sustained injuries in a clash. The lawyers in Ferozwala wanted to hold a rally outside local courts.

The lawyers wore black armbands and held meetings to condemn what they termed the unconstitutional act of President Musharraf to make the chief justice non-functional.

LHCBA’s acting president Firdaus Butt, secretary Sarfraz Cheema and finance secretary Rubi Hayat announced the cancellation of the membership of Wasi Zafar and Muhammad Basharat Raja. They made the announcement after a joint session of the bar. Mr Zafar had a regular membership and Mr Raja an honorary.

“We took the action against them for their undue favour to the government against the non-functional chief justice of Pakistan,” Firdaus Butt said. The Jaranwala Bar Council had already cancelled the membership of Wasi Zafar, which was his parent membership, she added.

To vent their anger, the lawyers at the high court removed a plague bearing the name of Mr Raja for the inauguration of a development project of the bar. The lawyers buried the plaque in front of the bar office.

A group of lawyers also held a hunger strike on the high court premises. Banners inscribed with slogans in favour of the non-functional chief justice and against President Musharraf were hung on the high court and several other subordinate courts’ premises.

A group of around 40 opposition members in the Punjab Assembly also joined the protesting lawyers in the high court. The MPs left the assembly building and marched up to the high court. Wielding shoes and slippers, women MPs chanted slogans against Musharraf. “We are here to express solidarity with the legal community,” the MPs said.

A large number of riot police remained on high alert outside the high court and other subordinate courts.

PUJ: The Punjab Union of Journalists held a demonstration outside the Lahore Press Club. The participants raised slogans against Monday’s police action against lawyers and in support of independence of judiciary.

Speaking on the occasion, PUJ president Arif Hameed Bhatti and Lahore Press Club president Arshad Ansari said that the journalists community condemned the unlawful acts of the rulers and supported the struggle of the lawyers and other sections of society for the supremacy of constitutional and democratic institutions, reinstatement of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhgammad Chaudhry and independence of judiciary.

LABOUR PARTY: The Labour Party Pakistan and Joint Action Committee for People’s Rights also organised a demonstration outside the Press Club.

The demonstrators, including a sizeable number of women, marched around the Shimla hill raising slogans against police action and military dictatorship and demanding reinstatement of the chief justice.

Speaking on the occasion, LPP secretary general Farooq Tariq, joint action committee representative Khawar Mumtaz and National Trade Union Federation Chairman Yousaf Baloch said that victimisation of the chief justice had exposed the government claims about democracy and independence of judiciary. They said the chief justice had been targeted because the rulers did not like some of his decisions.

They said the chief justice should be released and reinstated immediately and an inquiry should be held against the police action against lawyers in Lahore. “It is also the time for army to return to barracks,” they demanded.