April 15, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1429

KARACHI, April 14: The former chief justice of the Sindh High Court, Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, has expressed his reservations over the appointment of Dr Shoaib Suddle as the inspector-general of the Sindh police.

He pointed out that Dr Suddle was DIG Karachi when Mir Murtaza Bhutto was assassinated in a police shootout in 1996 and the incident took place near the residence of Dr Suddle.

The former chief justice was talking to the media on Monday after visiting Tahir Plaza where lawyers’ officers were located and was set ablaze by unknown attackers on April 9 killing at least six persons.

Justice Wajih was of the view that the attorney-general of Pakistan, Malik Qayyum, should step down since he was not eligible for this position. He, however, recommended the former advocate-general Sindh, Anwar Mansoor Khan, for the position terming him an ideal candidate for this prestigious post.

Juctice Wajih urged the lawyers and the members of civil society to make contributions to the legal relief fund. He said that the victims of the April 9 violence would be duly compensated and asked the management of the Karachi bar to provide details of the losses incurred on that fateful day.

Condemning the violence against the legal fraternity, he said that it was all pre-planned and an attempt to sabotage their ongoing movement for an independent judiciary.

‘Justice Chaudhry won’t resign’

The president of the Karachi Bar Association, Mahmoodul Hasan, said that deposed chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, had also condemned the April 9 violence and had offered condolences to the members of the bereaved families.

He was speaking at a general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association held at the Shuhada-i-Punjab Hall of the City Courts.

Quoting deposed chief justice’s telephonic conversation, the KBA chief said that Justice Chaudhry appreciated the

role of the lawyers of Karachi and hoped that the judiciary would soon be restored to its Nov-2 position.

He said Justice Chaudhry had rejected the notion that he might resign under any constitutional package and vowed to continue be in office till 2013.

“When I did not surrender before the top generals who wanted me to tender my resignation on March 9, 2007 at the President’s camp why would I resign now,” the KBA President quoted Justice Iftikhar as saying.

KBA secretary-general Naeem Qureshi urged the media to expose the elements involved in the April 9 violence and said that ‘Yaum-i-Shuhada-i-Karachi’ would be observed on April 17.

Naseer Abbasi, Riaz Afandi and Musawar Khan also spoke.

Meanwhile, Shahid Ghori of the Sunni Tehrik visited the KBA office and offered condolences to the lawyers killed on April 9.

Mr Ghori urged the relevant authorities to conduct high-level inquiries into the Nishtar Park blast, May 12, Oct 18 and April 9 incidents.