HYDERABAD, May 25: The Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court on Friday restrained police from arresting any of the lawyers nominated in a sedition case. The court put the additional advocate-general on notice to appear in the court for which a date would be fixed later.

The court also admitted for regular hearing a petition seeking quashment of the sedition case.

A special division bench comprising Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari and Justice Faisal Arab was formed to hear the petition, filed by Abdul Aziz Sheikh, president of the Hyderabad District Bar Association.

Mr Sheikh was represented by advocate Noorul Haq Qureshi, general secretary of the HDBA.

The petitioner said that the lawyers’ were waging a struggle for independence of the judiciary and rule of law, but the government tried to crush their movement by using law-enforcement agencies against them.

He alleged that false cases were being registered against lawyers and the sedition case, lodged on the complaint of the SHO Cantonment police on May 21, was one of them.

He said that the complainant and other officials tried to stop lawyers who were going to Karachi to welcome the Chief Justice of Pakistan on May 12, and the high-handedness was challenged in the court.