ISLAMABAD, March 8: The authorities locked the gates of the Supreme Court on Saturday in an attempt to stop members of the executive committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) from holding a meeting on the premises under the chairmanship of Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan.

The move annoyed the association’s members, who held a brief protest meeting on the Constitution Avenue and condemned the action, terming it illegal and unethical.

“We have every right to enter the SCBA offices and the bar room, but the Supreme Court has been locked,” Mr Ahsan said.

The meeting had been called to finalise the programme for a week-long ‘black flag’ protest, set to begin on Sunday.

When Mr Ahsan, who was accompanied by SCBA Secretary Chaudhry Mohammad Amin, Ghulam Nabi Bhatti and Sabir Rana, reached the Supreme Court at around 11am, they found it surrounded by a heavy police contingent.

However, some SCBA members managed to break the police cordon and forcibly enter the court premises. This prompted the police to immediately lock the gates on the instructions of one of the deputy registrars of the court.

When the police stopped Mr Ahsan from entering the building, the lawyers started chanting anti-government slogans. They, however, dispersed after recitation from the Holy Quran.

Speaking to the protesters, Mr Ahsan said such acts would strengthen the lawyers’ resolve to continue their movement for the independence of the judiciary and reinstatement of the deposed judges.

He also declared the prolonged detention of chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and his family as a criminal offence that entailed a severe punishment, adding conspiracies being hatched to sabotage the lawyers’ struggle would be defeated. He demanded that they be released immediately.

Earlier, Mr Ahsan was accorded a rousing welcome by traders in Rawalpindi and Islamabad when he went around different markets there. They assured him of cooperation during the upcoming SCBA campaign. Aitzaz Ahsan visited Islamabad’s Super Market and Aabpara and Rawalpindi’s College Road, Raja Bazaar, Lal Haveli and Urdu Bazaar.