LAHORE, Sept 28: Dejected lawyers say the Supreme Court verdict has set the clock backwards as far as independence of the judiciary is concerned.

“The verdict proves that a majority of the judges, known for their links with the establishment, have stuck to their affiliations,” said Hamid Khan, a prominent lawyer who represented Tehrik-i-Insaaf before the apex court.

“I had lost confidence in the higher judiciary long ago and told one of my associates that we should better stop filing public interest petitions before the apex court,” he said.

Hamid said a lot had changed since March 9 when the chief justice showed defiance in the face of his ‘suspension’ by Gen Musharraf. “We had gone along and supported him by launching a nationwide movement in his favour, which had revived our hopes in the higher judiciary,” he added.

Later, he said, the lawyers decided to take the matter of Musharraf’s dual office to the Supreme Court. “But its Friday’s decision has dismayed me and the people of Pakistan,” Hamid added.

To a question, Hamid said the bench had always been trailing along the bar with little to offer in the movement for the restoration of democracy. The chief justice could have formed a full court when an application was moved, Hamid said adding, “But the chief justice preferred leaving the matter to the same nine-member bench, which proceeded to hear the case.”

Had the political parties played their due role, the Supreme Court might have handed down a different verdict altogether, he said. “I appeal to the political parties to join lawyers in the movement for the restoration of democracy,” he added.

Advocate SM Masood said the decision could precipitate a civil movement like the one witnessed during Ayub Khan’s tenure. “This is not a good decision at all,” he added.

The apex court, he said, had disappointed the masses who wanted the army return to barracks. The judges had once more shown that they were reluctant to break free from their old practice of handing down pro-establishment verdicts, he added.

Ahsan Bhoon, the president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, said the verdict showed that the doctrine of necessity was still alive.

Syed Zulfiqar Bokhari, the secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said that people would have to fight for their rights on their own. He said the verdict would fuel the lawyers’ protest against Gen Musharraf.

Advocate Ch Fawad Hussain said the verdict had reaffirmed the principle of the supremacy of the parliament. He said a review petition - which some lawyers had vowed to file against the Friday verdict - would not be maintainable because the Supreme Court had given its verdict while winding up some review petitions.