KARACHI, May 7: Leaders of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) on Monday announced that Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry would administer an oath to all KBA office-bearers in the City Courts on May 12.

Speaking at a press conference in the KBA committee room, President of the association Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, Vice President Qadir Khan, General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi, K.K. Javaid Khan, Hafeez Baloch, Sakhi Jan Ghazali and members of the managing committee said that the oath administered to the office-bearers by Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim a few months ago had become null and void in the prevailing circumstances.

Naeem Qureshi said six committees were formed to organise the programmes for the arrival of the chief justice from the airport to the City Courts and then to the Sindh High Court. He said a committee of the Malir Bar Association (MBA) led by its President Zahoor Hussain Mehar and General-Secretary Abdul Naeem Memon would arrange drinking water at all the reception camps at the airport and in the jurisdiction of Malir district.

Twenty reception camps would be set up at different places from the airport to the City Courts to provide water and relevant information to the participants of the processions. A KBA committee led by Hafeez Baloch would set up a reception camp on the Levis Road in front of the City Courts.

Another committee to be led by General-Secretary of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) Munir-ur-Rehman would look after the arrangements at the SHC while Vice-Chairman of the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) Mohammad Amin Lakhani would issue invitation cards to the elected representatives of the 63 bars associations of Sindh.

A two-member committee comprising Vice-President of SHCBA Zia Nasir and Vice-President of the KBA Qadir Khan would lead the information committee of the event.

Mr Qureshi said 21 sitting judges would attend the function in the SHC while invitations would be given to the judges of all the subordinate courts, retired judges and those who had tendered resignations in support of the CJP, adding that 5,000 chairs would be set for lawyers and 1,000 for other personalities. He said the security committee would be responsible for checking the entry passes of lawyers at the main entrance. He said media persons would be issued cards for attending the function.

About the political activists, he said a public address system would be arranged on the Courts Road in front of the Sindh Assembly building so that people belonging to political parties could hear the speeches.

“Though Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is still the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the government is bound to provide him proper protocol, the lawyers are doing the entire programme without the support of the government,” he said.

He said the first victory of the lawyers was the stay order issued by the Supreme Court against the proceedings of the presidential reference in the Supreme Judicial Council.

He said the rulers were confused and did not know how to handle the issue. He said the credit went to the lawyers who had been running the campaign for the last 60 days in a very peaceful manner and tolerated all the anti-lawyers tactics of the government.