RAWALPINDI, March 13: Police on Monday prevented hundreds of lawyers from reaching the Supreme Court of Pakistan where suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was to face a presidential reference before the Supreme Judicial Council.

Over five hundred police personnel in riot gear were deployed at Faizabad who stopped the lawyers numbering about over one hundred from proceeding to the federal capital.

The lawyers staged a protest demonstration and shouted slogans against the government. Their representatives addressed the lawyers who later dispersed peacefully. However, some of them managed to reach the Constitution Avenue (outside the Supreme Court) and joined their colleagues.

The police also prevented a large number of lawyers at Rawat from moving towards the Supreme Court.

A black flag was hoisted at the district bar office where a meeting was also held in the morning.

Strict security arrangements were adopted by the Islamabad and Rawalpindi district administrations to maintain peace in the twin cities, as heavy deployment of police was made at all the entry points of the cities.

Vehicular traffic came to almost a standstill on Murree road after the police stopped the lawyers’ procession at Faizabad and diverted the traffic towards the Stadium Road.

Meanwhile, the Secretariat police have registered a report of an incident in which the car of ex-prime minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali was damaged while taking the suspended chief justice to the Supreme Court building.

The police said the report had been registered in the Roznamcha of the police station and could be converted into a formal FIR if required.

Sub-inspector Munir Hussain Jaffery stated in the report that driver Mohammad Awais, posted at the prime minister’s house, was bringing Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to the Supreme Court in the car (IDP-663). When it reached at the gate of the court building, a large number of lawyers and some political leaders surrounded the vehicle and caused damage to it.

The police said nobody had been identified as the accused in the police report.

Taxila Correspondent adds: Over fifty lawyers were stopped from proceeding to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Islamabad and taken to the local police station and detained for some hours.

The lawyers assembled at the tehsil court complex and vowed to continue their protest till the government revised its decision to suspend the chief justice.

When the protesting lawyers headed by President Taxila Bar Association Muneer Khan wanted to go to the federal capital and reached the Margalla hills on the GT road, they were stopped by a heavy contingent of the police.

When the lawyers insisted on going ahead, they were taken to the Taxila police station and released after some hours.

Later, talking to newsmen, Muneer Khan condemned the police action and said state machinery was being used to stop people from their fundamental right of staging peaceful protests.

The police had established a picket at the Margalla checkpost. Heavy contingent of police, riot force and officials of sensitive agencies were present there.