April 14, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 25, 1428

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PESHAWAR, April 13: Lawyers across the Frontier province on Friday completely boycotted court proceedings and demanded unconditional withdrawal of the reference against Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

In the provincial metropolis, members of the NWFP Bar Council and the Peshawar High Court Bar Association stayed away from court proceedings on the call of the Pakistan Bar Council.

Lawyers from all over the province staged a march from the Peshawar High Court building to the Supreme Court’s Registry Branch, effectively blocking the GT Road for an hour.

They vowed to continue their movement till the reinstatement of chief justice and removal of President Gen Pervez Musharraf from power.

They also condemned violence against journalists in Karachi and termed it a conspiracy to foil lawyers’ movement against what they termed the president’s attack on the judiciary.

Earlier, PHCBA’s Vice-President Fayaz Chamkani, General Secretary Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Barrister Bacha and others addressed the general body meeting of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association.

Reiterating their determination not to bow down before the military rulers, they called for holding conspirators involved in filing the reference accountable, unconditional release of the arrested lawyers, withdrawal of cases against them and recovery of all missing people.

Meanwhile, All-Pakistan Minorities Alliance, NWFP, also staged a protest demonstration in front of the Peshawar Press Club.

Led by the alliance’s provincial president, ‘Prince’ Javed, the protesters demanded of the government to withdraw the reference filed against the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice.

Our Karak correspondent adds: Lawyers took out a protest procession led by the President of the District Bar Association, Akhtar Hussain.Addressing the gathering, lawyers said that wrong government policies had created severe external and internal problems. The porters adopted several resolutions calling for the withdrawal of the presidential reference against the SC Chief Justice.

Our Correspondent in Timargarah adds: Members of the local bar association staged a protest demonstration here. Abdul Hussain, President of the Timargarah Bar Association, led the procession. Lawyers announced that they would not take up cases of the Dir Scouts, a paramilitary force, being heard in local courts. Memberships of three lawyers with ties to the ruling PML — Sardar Abdul Hakeem Tajik, Javed Akhtar and Muhammad Yar—were suspended for organising a pro-Musharraf rally last week.