LAHORE, June 11: Bar leaders have condemned the statement of Federal Law Minister Wasi Zafar about the preparation of another reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and described it as an attempt to pressurize the superior judiciary to decide the pending case against him.

The joint statement was issued here on Monday by Pakistan Bar Council members Muhammad Kazim Khan and Rashid Ahmed Rizvi, Punjab Bar Council vice-chairman Tariq Javed Chaudhry, Lahore Bar Association president Syed Muhammad Shah, Punjab Bar Council members Amar Jalil Siddiqi, Naveed Inayat Malik, Democratic Lawyers Forum convener Shahid Mahmood Bhatti and former presidents of Peoples Lawyer Forum Muhammad Jehangir and M. Nasim Kashmiri.

They said another move against the CJP was an indication that Gen Pervez Musharraf was convinced that the Supreme Court would decide the pending case in favour of the CJP.

The military rulers had not learnt a lesson from their past mistakes and were trying to trample the apex court because they considered it a hurdle in thrusting their policies on the nation.

They said the attempt made by the law minister to harass the judges was not only indicative of the dictatorial attitude of the government but had also made it clear that only one man was taking all the decision.

The present crisis, they said, would be resolved after departure of Gen Pervez Musharraf and elections under an independent election commission. Filing of new references against the CJP and pressurizing of superior judiciary would only deepen the crisis.

The bar, political and civil society would resist the attempts of Gen Musharraf and his lackeys to cow down the judiciary.

Lahore High Court Bar Association secretary-general Sarfarz Ahmed Cheema said the threat of filing a fresh reference against the CJP and messages in false affidavits had proved that the rulers had been unnerved.

He said the government had decided to resolve the crisis by force at the corps commanders’ conference and started arresting political workers, but it would not succeed in its plans.

The movement would continue till the nation got rid of dictatorship, he said.