Pak lawyers flay Zardari for not restoring SC judges

Islamabad, July 11 : The agitating lawyers in Pakistan, who are into their second phase of movement for the restoration of the deposed Supreme Court judges, have warned PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari not to delay the restoration of the deposed judges and play with their sentiments.

The participants of lawyer rallies in Islamabad and Lahore chanted slogans of 'Go Zardari go', demanding of the coalition partners to implement the Murree Declaration in letter and spirit.

This was the first time that the lawyer openly criticised the PPP co-chairman, reported The News.

The lawyers staged rallies across the country yesterday for the restoration of the superior courts' judges who had declined to take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO), promulgated by President Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007.

Lawyers boycotted the courts across the country while the attendance at the main registry of the Supreme Court, Islamabad, remained low due to the protest of the legal fraternity.

Despite the government's appeal to lawyers to avoid staging a rally at the Constitution Avenue due to security reasons, lawyers from Rawalpindi-Islamabad reached there in a procession. Addressing the rally, Hamid Khan, a leader of the agitating lawyers, asked the coalition government to fulfill its pledge made in the Murree Declaration and restore the deposed judges who had refused to bow before the military dictator and declined to take oath under the PCO.

"We are here to give a clear message to the coalition partners not to test the patience of lawyers and implement the Bhurban Accord in letter and spirit and restore the deposed judges," the paper quoted Khan as saying while addressing a rally in front of the Supreme Court building.

ANI