July 19, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 15, 1429

KARACHI, July 18: Protesting the police action against lawyers in front of the Sindh High Court’s building on Thursday night, the legal fraternity observed a complete boycott of court proceedings at the City Courts and the District Court Malir on Friday.

The police had reportedly manhandled and detained dozens of lawyers and members of various non-governmental organisations who were trying to stage a protest demonstration in front of the SHC building’s main entrance against the visit of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar. The chief justice was attending a computers distribution ceremony held on the premises of the high court.

However, on the directives of Justice Dogar all the detained lawyers and members of civil society were later released.

Addressing an urgently called general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) held at the Shuhada-i-Punjab Hall of the City Courts, the lawyers condemning the brutal police action against peaceful protesters termed it a non-democratic approach adopted by the government.

A member of the Sindh Bar Council (SBC), Salahuddin Gandapur, said manhandling of the lawyers had proved that there was no democracy in the country and President Pervez Musharraf still held the reins of power.

He said that every citizen in a civilized and democratic society had the right to hold a peaceful protest and the democratic governments had never thrashed peaceful protesters.

“Both the lawyers and the people have rejected the present judiciary that had violated the Supreme Court’s decision. Nobody is ready to accept them as judges and they are holding their offices with the help of the police,” he added.

Mr Gandapur asked the presiding officers in the subordinate courts to follow the decision of their respective bar associations regarding the boycott of court proceedings and warned them that the lawyers would handle the matter themselves in case of non-cooperation.

The president of the Karachi Bar Association, Mahmoodul Hasan, also condemned the police action against lawyers and said the lawyers of Karachi were playing a historic role in the lawyers’ ongoing movement and would not surrender against any violence. He slammed Justice Dogar for taking an oath under an army chief and violating the decision of a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court that had barred the judges from taking an oath under the Provisional Constitution Order 2007.

He reiterated that the lawyers were not striving for any personal gain; they were just struggling for the reinstatement of deposed judges, the rule of law and for the supremacy of the constitution.

Mubashir Mirza of the People’s Lawyers Forum, KBA General Secretary Naeem Qureshi, vice-president Mushatq Jahangiri and Naheed Afzal also spoke.

After the general body meeting, the lawyers took out a rally from the KBA offices that was surrounded by the police, and staged a sit-in on M. A. Jinnah Road in protest against Thursday night’s incident. Due to the sit-in vehicular traffic on the arterial M.A. Jinnah Road remained suspended for some time. Later, they dispersed peacefully. The lawyers chanted anti-Musharraf slogans during the rally.

Meanwhile, legal proceedings remained suspended at the City Courts and District Courts Malir on the second consecutive day. The lawyers had also boycotted the proceedings on Thursday, in response to a strike call given by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) to protest against the ousting of judges.

A number of undertrial prisoners were brought to the City Courts from various prisons, but their cases could not be heard due to the strike and were taken back. However, the judges remained in their chambers. Other commercial activities on the premises of the City Courts also remained suspended.

Meanwhile, the KBA management is also planning to observe a boycott of court proceedings on Saturday.