August 20, 2008	Wednesday	Sha’aban 17, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 19: The city’s legal fraternity on Tuesday observed Yaum-i-Nijat (day of deliverance) in response to a call given by the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Aitzaz Ahsan, to celebrate the departure of the former president, retired General Pervez Musharraf.

Amid the celebrations, they did not, however, forget to reiterate their stance over restoration of the deposed judges and urged the ruling coalition to reinstate those judges by Aug 21.

Amid tight security arrangements around the City Courts, jubilant lawyers were seen carrying placards, banners and flags chanting pro-Justice Iftikhar and anti-Musharraf slogans.

Lawyers took out a procession from the Karachi Bar Association’s office after attending a general body meeting. Marching through different thoroughfares of the city including M.A. Jinnah Road reached the Karachi Press Club where the rally was addressed by various leaders of the legal community. At the KPC, activists of the Sunni Tehrik also joined the rally. Besides, a group of Sindh High Court lawyers also joined the procession from the Sindh High Court building.

Addressing the participants of the rally in front of the KPC, the president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA), Rasheed A. Razvi, urged the PPP-led government to honour its commitment by restoring all the deposed judges and that too within the next two days.

The president of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA), Mehmoodul Hasan, recalled that leaders of the four ruling coalition partners had signed the Islamabad Declaration earlier this month, which clearly said that all the deposed judges would be reinstated to their pre-Nov 3 position within three days of departure of Pervez Musharraf. He said that it was the responsibility of the signatories to the declaration to honour their commitment.

The KBA chief warned that if the government failed to keep its word, the legal fraternity would have all the right to launch a movement against the present setup.

Welcoming the departure of Pervez Musharraf, a leader of the Sunni Tehrik, Shahid Ghauri said that it the responsibility of the government to reinstate the deposed judges. He also stressed the need to take up the case of Nishtar Park blast that had killed over 50 people including the top leadership of the Sunni Tehrik once the judiciary was restored to its pre-Nov 3 position.

Later, the lawyers distributed sweets among the participants and called for an open trial of Pervez Musharraf.

Earlier, speaking at a general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association held at the Shuhada-i-Punjab Hall of the City Courts, the lawyers urged the government to charge Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution since they claimed, he had taken numerous unconstitutional and illegal measures during his over nine years of unbridled power including the abrogation of the constitution twice, derailing the judiciary, curbs on media and launch of military operations in Balochistan, the tribal areas and the Lal Masjid.

Nahil Hashmi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz lawyers’ wing asked the government not to provide a safe passage to the former president. He said that the PML-N would not re-join the ministries until all the deposed judges were reinstated to their pre-PCO positions.

The general secretary of the Karachi Bar Association, Naeem Qureshi, member of the Pakistan Bar Council Yasin Azad and member Sindh Bar Council Salahuddin Gandapur also asked the ruling coalition to honor its commitment regarding restoration of the deposed judges and said that it was the lawyers 16-month-old movement that earlier had forced Pervez Musharraf to doff his uniform and to hold general elections and finally impelled him to quit. They said that the movement also facilitated the return of the top political leaders of the PPP and the PML-N from exile.

SHCBA meeting

The Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) has also urged the ruling coalition to restore the deposed judges by Aug 21.Addressing a general body meeting, the SHCBA president and secretary warned that if the promises made in the Murree and the Islamabad declarations were not fullfilled, direct action would follow.

Endorsed by the members present in the meeting, they also warned that lawyers would not allow any delay in restoration of the judges after the three-day deadline starting from Aug 18.