June 27, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 22, 1429

KARACHI, June 26: Legal proceedings at the City Courts and the Malir District Courts remained suspended for the second consecutive day, Thursday, due to a boycott by lawyers.

On Wednesday, the boycott was observed in protest against the Lahore High Court judgment that declared Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif not qualified to contest the June 26 by-election. On Thursday, the boycott was in line with the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) programme of weekly protest against the ousting of those judges who had declined to take a fresh oath under the controversial Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) promulgated by President Pervez Musharraf.

Police had brought to the City Courts lock-up the undertrial prisoners whose cases were scheduled to be heard on Thursday. Judges also remained present in their chambers but the hearings could not be held as lawyers stayed away from the legal proceedings.

The protesting lawyers attended a general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) on the premises of the City Courts to express their resolve to continue their struggle till the reinstatement of all the deposed judges.

PML-N leader Saleem Zia also spoke at the meeting, and appreciated the legal fraternity’s sustained struggle for the cause of the independent judiciary. He also commended the stiff resistance posed by the legal fraternity against dictatorship, saying that it was the lawyers’ movement that had brought about the democratic changes through the Feb 18 general elections.

Criticising the LHC decision against Mian Nawaz Sharif, he said that it was astonishing to note that a politician who had been elected prime minister of the country twice in the past was declared ineligible to contest the by-election.

Regarding the recent long march led by the legal fraternity, Mr Zia said the main objective of the march was to remind the rulers that the mandate given by the masses in the Feb 18 elections was actually for the reinstatement of all the deposed judges.

KBA general secretary Naeem Qureshi, Naheed Afzal, Abdul Khaliq Junejo and Chaudhry Abdul Sattar also spoke.

ATC proceedings

The Anti-Terrorism Court-V recorded the statement of second of the two kidnapping-for-ransom victims and adjourned the hearing of the case till June 28. The first victim, Noreen, had recorded her statement on Wednesday before the ATC judge, Haq Nawaz Baloch.

Noreen and her friend, Badal Mashi, were allegedly kidnapped from University Road on Dec 19, 2007 by Nadeem-ul-Haq, Attaullah Shah, Amir Hussain, Mehmood Balil, Mohammad Rafiq and Mohammad Rashid and were asked to pay Rs0.5 million ransom.

Badal Mashi submitted to the court on Thursday that three of the kidnappers were in police uniform. He stated that he paid Rs50,000 before police intervened and got them freed.

According to the prosecution, the police had chased the accused after they collected the ransom at the Star Gate. The accused were intercepted and challenged at a place in the PECHS. A shootout took place and they were forced to surrender. The investigation officer of the case will testify on Saturday.