KARACHI, Sept 18: Despite having suffered many setbacks during the last few months, members of the legal fraternity are still optimistic that their struggle will bear fruit in the form of reinstatement of the deposed chief justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, and his associates to the pre-Nov 3 position.

The fresh oaths taken by most of the deposed judges under the Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition government’s formula have dented the overall impact of the 17-month lawyers’ movement. Apart from this, the refusal of the Pakistan Bar Council to intensify the movement to press the government for judges’ restoration also drove a wedge between the top leadership of the legal fraternity and that proved to be a major blow to their struggle.

Regardless of all these problems, lawyers’ representatives on Thursday vowed to continue their ongoing struggle till the achievement of their main objective ie the restoration of Justice Iftikhar and his associates.

Speaking at a general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association held at the Shuhada-i-Punjab Hall of the City Courts here on Thursday, the lawyers slammed those judges who had accepted the government’s offer of reappointment. They said that by taking fresh oaths, those judges had validated the unconstitutional actions taken by the then president Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007. They said that the movement was launched in the backdrop of Justice Ifitikhar’s historic decision of March 9, 2007 when he had refused to surrender against the army generals with a sole purpose to establish the rule of law in the country. The lawyers resolved to stand by Justice Ifitikhar’s side till the end.

Referring to some reports about some more deposed judges accepting the government’s offer, the lawyers said that the decision made by those judges had hurt the sentiments of the legal fraternity but such things would not affect the lawyers’ movement as it was initiated for the establishment of the rule of law and an independent judiciary, which was not possible without Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

Criticising the government for adopting what they described as unlawful course of action, they said that the deposed judges could only be reinstated through an executive order as they were sacked unconstitutionally.

The president of the Karachi Bar Association, Mehmoodul Hasan, was of the view that the ruling coalition was adopting wrong polices in order to stay in power. The judges had validated Musharraf’s Nov-3 steps by taking fresh oath, he said, adding that the lawyers were still optimistic and determined to continue their movement.

The former president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Ahmed Owais, said that the former president, Pervez Musharraf, had not only abrogated the constitution but also amended it. He said that Pervez Musharraf should be tried under Section 6 of the constitution. He said that the restoration of Nov-2 judiciary was a constitutional issue and could not be resolved through political settlement.

“The parliament cannot indemnify the unconstitutional steps of November 3, 2007 in the presence of Section 6 of the constitution”, he added.

A disposed judge of the Sindh High Court, Justice Mushir Alam, lauded the lawyers’ movement for the rule of law and for the independence of the judiciary.

He recalled that despite many hurdles one of his uncles had represented Moulvi Tamizuddin Ahmed when he had challenged the dissolution of the assembly in the apex court in 1954. Justice Alam said that he would follow the example of his elders.

A member of the Pakistan Bar Council, Yaseen Azad, Sindh Bar Council member Salahuddin Gandapur, KBA secretary-general Naeem Qureshi, Naheed Afzal and Nahal Hashmi also spoke.

Meanwhile, the city’s lawyers on Thursday observed a boycott of proceedings at the City Courts and Malir District Courts, on the call of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) to protest the ousting of the chief justice and other judges of the superior courts.

Though, a number of undertrial prisoners were brought to the police lockup in the City Courts from different prisons, but their cases could not be heard due to the lawyers’ strike and they were taken back to their respective prisons. However, judges remained in their chambers.