LAHORE, Feb 18: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has condemned the arrest of PML-N, MMA, ARD leaders, lawyers and workers in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan and other cities and demanded their immediate release.

Voicing the demand in a statement issued here on Saturday, bar president Malik Muhammad Qayyum said the SCBA executive committee had rejected the countrywide ban on public meetings and processions and described it as ulta vires of the 1973 Constitution.

He also called upon the government to start a meaningful dialogue with religious and political parties in the opposition for resolving the crisis in Balochistan and restoration of law and order in tribal areas.

Prof Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zaeem Husain Qadri, Nasir Bhutta, Khwaja Saad Rafiq and all other arrested political leaders and workers should be released immediately.