March 16, 2007	Friday	Safar 26, 1428

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PESHAWAR, March 15: The lawyers’ community on Thursday decided to boycott courts and reach the Supreme Court building in Islamabad on Friday to express their solidarity with the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

In line with a decision of the Pakistan Bar Council, members of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association and the Peshawar District Bar Association observed an hour-long strike and set up a hunger-strike camp to protest against the government action against the Chief Justice.

A large number of lawyers participated in the camp. Prominent among them were: Pakistan Bar Council’s Executive Council chairman Qazi Muhammad Anwer, PHCBA President Abdul Lateef Afridi, PHCBA General Secretary Syed Attique Shah, PDBA President Behlol Khattak, Fida Gul, Qaiser Rasheed, Ghulam Nabi and Muhammad Khursheed.

Various banners and placards were displayed in the camp and in the premises of the high court, condemning the action taken against the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

The lawyers’ community endorsed the decision of the Pakistan Bar Council and decided to visit Islamabad on Friday when the Chief Justice would appear before the Supreme Judicial Council.

They also condemned the manhandling of the chief justice by members of the law-enforcement agencies.

They said that lawyers would form a human shield around the chief justice on Friday so that members of law-enforcement agencies could not harm him.

LAWYERS’ CONVENTION: A controversy marred a lawyers' convention convened by Federal Minister for Political Affairs Amir Muqam as provincial office-bearers of the PML Lawyers’ Wing distanced themselves from that programme and did not attend the function.

A meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League Lawyers Wing presided over by its Provincial President Behlol Khattak was held here on Thursday. The meeting decided not to attend the controversial convention.

The meeting was attended by lawyers Shahid Raza, Syed Arshad Hussain Yousafzai, Zahid Raza Malik, Azhar Yousuf, Malik Arif Maqsood, Arif Aman Khalil and others.

The participants said that as the convention was not their programme, they and their members did not attend it.

A press release, issued here in favour of the convention, stated that the convention was presided over by Central President of Lawyers’ Wing, Mr Justice (retd) Azam Khan. Advocates Moazzam Butt, Arbab Ghulam Haider, Ms Farhat and Malik Riaz addressed the convention.

A member of the PHCBA said that the NWFP Bar Council had already suspended the membership of Justice (retd) Azam Khan and Moazzam Butt, and the other three speakers were non-practicing lawyers.

Some of the lawyers claimed that with the exception of a few practicing lawyers others who attended the convention were party workers who had been asked to wear black coats. According to the press release, Mr Muqam urged the lawyers’ community not to be a part of what he called a disinformation campaign of opposition parties regarding the action against non-functional Chief Justice of Pakistan.

“Some of the opposition parties are hell-bent upon maligning the judiciary by politicising the issue pending before the Supreme Judicial Council.

“The opposition’s act of issuing irresponsible and immature statements regarding a sub-judice matter is equal to a contempt of court,” he said.