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KARACHI, June 13: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has been invited by the Sindh High Court Bar Association and Sindh Bar Council to visit Karachi at the end of summer vacations.
Munir A. Malik, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and counsel for the CJ, told Dawn on Wednesday that the SBC had extended an invitation to the CJ but a date for the visit was yet to be finalised.
“Though it depends on the CJ’s schedule, the most probable date is July 7,” he said, pointing out that summer vacations would be over and lawyers would already have returned to work on July 2.
In reply to some questions about the political atmosphere in the city, he observed that the political parties’ approach had now become mature and they were also willing to join in the welcome reception. “Basically, it’s a programme organised solely by the legal fraternity. However, no one could be stopped from participating in the programme,” he said.
Mr Malik recalled that the Sindh High Court had already ordered the government to facilitate the CJ’s visit as per the schedule of his choice, and added that similar directives from the SHC would be sought again if required.
On his part, the SHCBA General-Secretary, Munir-ur-Rehman, said he could not comment on the SBC invitation but he felt certain that the CJ would arrive here at the invitation of the SHCBA most probably in the second week of August or on August 14.
He said lawyers would not invite political parties to join in the welcome reception but if anyone came on his own, nobody could stop them.
SBC Vice Chairman Mohammad Amin Lakhani said a date for the CJ’s next visit to the city was yet to be decided. He said he could not hazard a guess about the possible date.
MQM OFFER: The legal fraternity on Wednesday rejected the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s offer of joining in the rousing welcome planned to be accorded to the Chief Justice on his next visit to Karachi.
The offer came under severe criticism at the general body meeting of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) here on Wednesday. President Abrar Hasan, General-Secretary Munir-ur-Rehman and several other members of the bar spoke at the meeting.
Recalling the MQM’s alleged role in the mayhem on the CJ’s arrival at Karachi airport on May 12, they said memories of the bloodshed were still alive in the minds of the nation, especially lawyers and opposition forces. The day would always be remembered as a ‘black day’ in the country’s history, they said, deploring that scores of innocent people on their way to the airport to welcome the CJ had ruthlessly been killed and injured.
Resolving to accord a ‘historical welcome’ this time to the CJ, they said almost all lawyers would be there to receive the CJ and their strength was more than enough to accord him a rousing and historical welcome.
At the City Courts, the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) held its general body meeting which was addressed by its President Iftikhar Javaid Qazi and General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi. Leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-N Lawyers Forum Arshad Khan Jadoon, Hakim Shaikh, Nadeem Shehzad Hashmi, Naheed Afzal and Tufail Akbar also spoke.
They rejected the MQM’s offer of welcoming the CJ, saying that they had already experienced the MQM’s style of welcoming CJ and it should better keep away from all events to be organised for his upcoming visit.
They observed that the MQM, which claimed to have been representing the 98 per cent poor of the country, had always proved that it was loyal only to the military dictators and had no interest in the independence of the judiciary or human rights.
Being an active ally of the Musharraf regime, the MQM was responsible for all the misdeeds of the rulers, including the military operations and atrocities let loose on the people of Balochistan, Waziristan and tribal areas, they said. They welcomed the recent meeting between President of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf Imran Khan and President of the Pakistan Muslim League-N Mian Nawaz Sharif as a good omen. They were of the view that the MQM’s bid to unseat Imran Khan as MNA would be an exercise in futility as Mr Khan had never been convicted by a local court. Articles 62 or 63 of the Constitution didn’t apply to his case either, they added.
Meanwhile, lawyers at the Sindh High Court, City Courts and Malir District Court continued their token boycott of courts proceedings for one hour in protest against the filing of the presidential reference against the CJ.
