NWFP lawyers to continue boycott till 13th
PESHAWAR, Mar 1: The NWFP Bar Council and all bar associations in the province decided on Saturday to continue boycott of superior courts till March 13.
Amid complete boycott of all the courts, a meeting of the bar council and other associations of lawyers, chaired by the council vice chairman, Qazi Mohammad Naeem, was held here which called upon the government to restore all the deposed judges.
It is learnt that heated discussion took place on the issue of boycott of the superior courts as some of the participants suggested relaxing the boycott. After threadbare discussion the meeting decided to continue the boycott till March 13, the date on which they would again meet to decide future course of action.
It was also decided to observe complete boycott of the subordinate courts on every Thursday and two-hour boycott on other working days.
The meeting fully supported the call given by the Supreme Court Bar Association president Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan about observing the Judiciary Week from Mar 9 to 16.
The week would commemorate the suspension of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and the filing of a reference against him on Mar 9, 2007.
Through a unanimously adopted resolution the meeting demanded restoration of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary and 1973 Constitution, in its original shape. Through another resolution the participants called upon the government to forthwith set at liberty the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, other judges, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and Ali Ahmad Kurd.
The participants discussed in detail the issue of appearance of some lawyers including some senior members before the Peshawar High Court. Some of them condemned the senior advocates who violated the decision of the NWFP Bar Council and demanded that strict action should be taken against them.
The meeting decided that all the bar associations should take action against all those members who violated the said decision and appeared in different cases before the high court. It was added that after taking any action against those members the case should be referred to the bar council which would initiate further proceedings against them.
The participants condemned the curbs placed on the media especially television channels and demanded that all the oppressive laws regarding media should be withdrawn.
The meeting condemned the blast in Swat district wherein 40 persons were killed and held the intelligence agencies responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation.The participants condemned the price spiral of essential commodities especially the recent increase in prices of petroleum product and electricity stating that these were the gifts given to the nation by the last government and present caretaker setup.The speakers urged PPP, PML-N, ANP and other political parties to strive for the independence of judiciary as people had voted in their favour expecting them to undo the wrongs committed by the previous government. They added that an independent judiciary was vital for the progress of the democracy in the country.
Source: Dawn
Date:3/2/2008
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