June 01, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1428

PESHAWAR, May 31: Lawyers in the city on Thursday observed a complete strike and boycotted court proceedings in protest against the presidential reference and bomb explosion outside the Peshawar High Court.

The strike was observed on the call of the Pakistan Bar Council.

Through a unanimously adopted resolution at a joint general body meeting of the PHC and Peshawar district bar associations, the lawyers’ community condemned the bomb blast outside the PHC. They said that such terrorist acts could not scare them and they would continue their struggle for reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

The meeting, chaired by PHCBA president Abdul Lateef Afridi, also condemned a ban on Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan’s entry into Sindh and assured him of lawyers’ all-out support. They vowed to support Mr Khan in his struggle for exposing the MQM and its chief Altaf Hussain.

The meeting decided to join the caravan of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry who was scheduled to address lawyers in Abbottabad on June 2.

Mr Afridi said that lawyers and the media had played a vital role in upholding the supremacy of the Constitution and independence of the judiciary.

The meeting was followed by a protest demonstration. The lawyers took out a rally from the high court and marched to sessions courts. They raised anti-Musharraf and anti-government slogans.