KARACHI: KBA accepts political parties’ participation in rally
By A Reporter
KARACHI, April 30: Responding positively to the call given by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), members of the Karachi Bar Association have announced a strike and boycott of all proceedings of the Sindh High Court, the City Courts and the Malir District Court on Wednesday, when Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is to appear before the Supreme Judicial Council in Islamabad for the 9th hearing of the presidential reference filed against him.
The announcement came at the KBA general body meeting held here on Monday. Zia Ahmed Awan, Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, Mehmud-ul-Hassan, Naeem Qureshi, Raja Riaz, and Shafiq Qureshi were prominent among those who spoke at the meeting.
KBA General Secretary Naeem Qureshi moved a resolution in favour of political parties’ offer to participate in the lawyers’ rally planned to be taken out on Wednesday from the City Courts to the Karachi Press Club. The resolution was adopted by a majority of the KBA members.
Earlier, the offer came under discussion at the meeting during which members expressed their views and pinpointed merits and demerits of a joint rally with political parties. Critics argued that the KBA was exclusively a lawyers’ platform and political parties should not be allowed to use it for their own aims and objectives. They were of the view that lawyer fraternity in the city did have the strength to carry forward the ongoing campaign. However, majority of the present KBA members saw no wrong in accepting the offer.
The general body was told that the mode of protest and route of the rally would be decided in the next general body meeting to be held on Wednesday morning. It was also declared that it would be obligatory for all participating political parties to follow the KBA guidelines for the rally and observe discipline.
Meanwhile, lawyers continued their one-hour boycott of proceedings in the City Courts and Malir District Court where KBA members observed a token hunger strike in batches on Monday as part of the protest campaign.
