Lawyers boycott courts.

RAWALPINDI: Lawyers on Thursday observed complete boycott of courts and held protest meetings at Rawalpindi District Bar Association (RDBA) and Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), Rawalpindi Bench offices, as a part of their ongoing movement for restoration of sacked judges and independence of judiciary.

They also staged a hunger strike camp at the RDBA complex. About 30 lawyers participated in it.

In the general body meeting of RDBA, lawyers demanded that the government restore sacked judges. They reiterated that they would not recognise those judges who had taken oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). They said restoration of sacked judges was imperative for an independent judiciary.

They said if the government would not restore all the judges, including chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, by August 14 they would restart their movement.

They also finalised their preparations for Justice Chaudhry’s addresses to lawyers’ conventions in Multan and Bahawalpur.

RDBA General Secretary Sajid Tanoli said lawyers from Rawalpindi would go to Multan in two coaches.

Lawyer Shahbaz Ahmed Rajput said it was beyond comprehension that why the new government was afraid of taking bold steps for the supremacy of law in the country. He said the lawyer community would stand by the government if it took steps for independence of judiciary.

Ibad-ur-Rehman Lodhi, a senior lawyer, said President Musharraf should not be given safe passage and he must be tired under Article 6.

RDBA Vice President Farhad Iqbal Khattak, RDBA Joint Secretary Humaira Abbasi, former joint secretary Shahbaz Ahmed Rajput and lawyers Muhammad Ibrahim and Sheikh Suleman also spoke on this occasion.

The lawyers also condemned killing of LHCBA General Secretary Saddiq Awan’s elder brother Khuda Yar Muhammad Awan in an ambush near Motorway Chowk.

According to the police, Awan was coming to Islamabad from Fateh Jang on Wednesday morning when unknown gunmen opened firing at his car (LZF-6712) on Dhoke Malharan-Bhadana Link Road.

link: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C07%5C25%5Cstory_25-7-2008_pg7_32