KARACHI, Aug 28: Criticising all the judges of the Sindh High Court who have taken a fresh oath under the government’s offer, representatives of the legal fraternity said that by accepting the offer of reappointment they had validated the illegal and unconstitutional steps taken on November 3, 2007.

They were of the view that the government’s offer was a conspiracy to divide the legal fraternity so as to sabotage their ongoing movement.

Speaking at a joint general body meeting of the Sindh High Court bar and Karachi bar associations held at the Shuhada-i-Punjab hall of the City Courts here on Thursday, the lawyers said that these judges had also disregarded the sacrifices of the lawyers rendered during the 16-month movement for the reinstatement of all the deposed judges and for the rule of law in the country.

The president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA), Rasheed A. Razvi, accused the federal law minister of misleading the nation by giving conflicting statements about the reappointment of eight SHC judges.

He said that since the deposed judges were still under the oath, there was no need for their reappointment.

The PCO judges had violated the decision of a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan that had declared the promulgation of the Provisional Constitution Order-2007 unconstitutional and had barred the judges from taking oath under the PCO.

All the deposed judges, he said, must be restored through an executive order instead of a fresh oath or reappointment.

The newly-elected chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council’s executive committee, Yaseen Azad, condemned the judges for accepting the reappointment offer. By doing so, these judges had upheld the imposition of the November 3, 2007 emergency, he added.

Describing the steps taken on November 3 as unlawful, he said that the constitution did not allow any army chief to impose a state of emergency in the country.

A member of the Sindh Bar Council, Salahuddin Gandapur, also criticised the eight SHC judges for accepting the government offer by taking fresh oaths.

He said that a fresh oath meant that these judges had validated the unconstitutional and illegal steps taken by Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007.

KBA president Mahmoodul Hasan predicted that under the present government the country was heading towards another martial law.

He said that the so-called rulers were busy devising what he described as anti-people policies and was also accused of using various tactics to remain in power. He deplored that despite the fact that Pervez Musharraf had abrogated the constitution twice; the present rulers were reluctant to initiate any action against him and were even considering granting him indemnity.

Naeem Qureshi alleged that the government was hatching a conspiracy to make divisions among the lawyers. However, he said that the legal fraternity stood united across the country.

The former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Munir A. Malik, former law minister Iqbal Haider and local leaders of different political parties also attended the meeting.Meanwhile, the city’s lawyers on Thursday observed a boycott of court proceedings at the City Courts and the Malir District Courts in response to a call given by the Pakistan Bar Council to protest the ousting of the chief justice of Pakistan and other judges of superior courts.

A number of undertrial prisoners were brought to the City Courts from different prisons, but their cases could not be heard due to the strike. However, judges remained in their respective chambers. All commercial activities on the premises of the City Courts also remained thin.