OKARA, March 11: Lahore High Court’s deposed judge Khwaja Muhammad Sharif on Tuesday called the delay in the opening session of the National Assembly a conspiracy by President Pervez Musharraf.

Speaking to lawyers at the district courts complex, Mr Sharif said the lawyers’ movement could force the rulers to reinstate deposed judges. He praised Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari for their pledge to reinstate judges.

He said before March 9, 2007 no politician had the courage to stand against President Musharraf, but deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry defied him.

He said he (Mr Sharif) was scheduled to become chief justice of the Lahore High Court in the beginning of 2008, but he preferred honour to the high profile post and refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order.

He asked President Musharraf to accept the election results and stop hatching conspiracies against the parliament. He said all Pakistani rulers after 1947 were either imported or chosen by the US.

He said the entire world praised Pakistani lawyers for their struggle for the judiciary and the constitution, but the US and the United Nations remained silent.

Mr Sharif said the US was against the reinstatement of certain judges because it did not want the missing persons case reopened.

He said he and his colleagues had washed away the black spot on the face of the judiciary by standing against a dictator. He said the judiciary could only be made independent by restoring it to its pre-Nov 3 position. He urged lawyers to continue their struggle for the restoration of judges.

Lawyers’ representatives Sagheer Ahmed Khan and Sajjad Hasan Naru also spoke on the occasion.

Later, Mr Sharif also visited the Deepalpur bar association.