KARACHI, April 17: Lawyers fraternity on Tuesday continued its campaign in the city courts and Malir district against the suspension of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Members of Karachi Bar Association (KBA) took out a procession from the city courts and observed a

sit-in on the M.A. Jinnah Road. They blocked the vehicular traffic for 40 minutes.

Lawyers also stayed away from the court proceedings for one hour from 10.30 to 11.30 and held a general body meeting in front of the city courts. KBA President Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, Vice President Qadir Khan, General Secretary Naeem Qureshi spoke on the occasion. They said lawyers would observe a complete strike on Wednesday and take out procession from the city court and march up to the Sindh High Court.

The speakers said the suspension of CJP was unconstitutional and illegal. They said that the lawyers’ campaign was aimed at independence of judiciary and strengthening of democratic institutions in the country. They said lawyers were still fully united and determined to continue the struggle till the reinstatement of CJP.

They criticised General Pervez Musharraf for creating a judicial crisis, and said the military dictators had always destroyed the judicial and democratic institutions in the country. They said Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was still Chief Justice of Pakistan and appointment of acting CJP was unconstitutional. They also appreciated the judges of Sindh High Court and other subordinate courts for their presence at the reception of CJP at Hyderabad and said it was a good gesture for upholding dignity of the judiciary.

They said that lawyers and journalists always worked together for independence of judiciary and press, and would continue to join hands against dictators, adding that some hidden hands were at work to sabotage the lawyers’ campaign.

Meanwhile, 10 members of KBA observed a token hunger strike in the city courts on Tuesday. They were Riaz Qadir Brohi, Mehrab Khan Niazi, Fakhr Alam Fakhri, B. K. Tariq, M. Arif Niazi, Mushtaq Awan, Mohammad Ali Khan, M.Yousuf, Ejaz Khattak and Syed Shahid Ali. Lawyers raised slogans against the president’s action against the CJP, as well as against the federal ministers for law and information, and the chief minister of Sindh.

At the District Court Malir, four lawyers observed token hunger strike. They were Mohammad Murad Baloch, Ali-ur-Rehman, Shehzad Ali and Lala Asad Mangi. Members of Malir Bar Association (MBA) also continued their boycott of the courts proceedings from 10.30am to 11.30am.