August 22, 2008	Friday	Sha'aban 19, 1429

RAWALPINDI, Aug 21: The lawyers on Thursday observed complete boycott of the courts and urged the government to restore all the deposed judges.

At a general body meeting of District Bar Association (DBA) the lawyers said after the resignation of General (retired) Pervez Musharraf it was expected that the judges would be restored within three days but again the rulers had reneged on their promises.

Condemning the statements by some government officials that judges would be reinstated after addressing the issue of price-hike, they said each government had been using the issue as slogan for the last thirty years but could not provide basic item at low rate.

Mohammad Ibrahim, a senior advocate, said a delegation of the DBA should meet Pakistan Peoples’ Party Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and seek judges’ restoration.Sajid Tanoli, Secretary General DBA, said that the rulers had no other option except for reinstating the judges. He remarked that if the government fails to reinstate judges, they would lose the support of public. He said that the lawyers would continue their struggle.

Former vice-president of Supreme Court Bar Association, Chaudhary Ikram said President Supreme Court Bar Association Aitzaz Ahsan should make final decision that whether he was with the PPP or with legal fraternity as it was due to his decision at the culmination of Long March that the lawyers struggle had suffered a setback.He said that they were not very hopeful that the judges would be restored.

He feared that Asif Ali Zardari would restore some judges in Sindh and then some judges in Punjab and other provinces would be restored gradually according the terms and conditions of the PPP government.

The senior lawyer deplored the hesitant stance of Asif Ali Zardari saying at one time the PPP leader talked about restoring the judges but kept on delaying the issue putting the nation in an uncertain state.