ISLAMABAD, May 18: More than 10 civil society activists were booked by the city police on the direction of the top adjudicator on Sunday, police and sources told Dawn.

The Secretariat police registered a case against 10 to 15 people shortly after Saturday midnight under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code that dealt with disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant and violation of amplifier.

Three persons — Farzana Bari, Ghazal Minallah and Jehangir Akhter — were nominated in the FIR, which stated that the accused gathered in front of the Supreme Court in violation of PPC 144 (joining unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapon) and chanted slogans against President Pervez Musharraf and Chief Justice of Pakistan Abdul Hameed Dogar.

The document said that the time of violation was 5:30pm. However, Ms Bari told Dawn that they gathered in front of the Supreme Court (SC) building at 6:00pm and remained there till 7:00pm.

The civil society representatives have regularly been staging protests in favour of deposed judges from 5:30pm to 7:00pm at the SC main gate, however, they changed their time on Saturday.

On Saturday, the top adjudicator directed a senior officer of the capital administration to take strict action against the protesters, the sources said. According to the adjudicator, the SC building was not a place where people gathered and staged protests.

Later, the officer asked the city police to take action against the protesters, they added. The police asked him what type of action should be taken against them, whether they should be arrested and put behind the bars or just implicated under some charges, the sources said.

On the guidelines of the officer, the police booked the activists for violating Section 144 which was imposed in the capital city.

The sources said the SC registrar had summoned the officers of the local administration and the police to appear before the court on Monday regarding the issue.

Sarwar Bari, an activist, told Dawn that the representatives of civil societies were staging the protest for the reinstatement of the deposed judges. The protest was also against the PPP, PML-N and ANP for not meeting the two deadlines issued by them for the restoration of the judges, he added.

Our Reporter adds: An alliance of progressive political workers and intellectuals — Awami Jamhoori Ittehad (AJI) — has condemned the lodging of an FIR against its members for exercising their democratic right to protest in front of the Supreme Court.