SCBA asks CJP to take suo motu notice of May 12 mayhem

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Wednesday demanded of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice of May 12, 2007 mayhem in Karachi besides ordering a judicial inquiry into the incident. Though the legal fraternity across the country observed Wednesday as 'Black Day' to commemorate the martyrs of May 12 carnage.
The situation in the Supreme Court in Islamabad was quite different as neither any rally was taken out nor a single lawyer boycotted the court proceedings, besides abstaining from commemorating the May 12 incident. However, some lawyers of the apex court forced SCBA President Qazi Muhammad Anwar to hold a short meeting to commemorate the Karachi incident wherein the lawyers passed a resolution, requesting the CJP to take suo motu notice of May 12 incident, besides ordering a judicial inquiry into the incident.
According to Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry, Advocate Supreme Court, the SCBA in its short meeting passed the resolution, requesting the CJP to question the then governor and chief minister of Sindh for their negligence and irresponsible attitude, failing to ensure adequate security.
The resolution, he said also demanded of the federal and Sindh governments to properly investigate the incident and take strict action against the people found involved in the gruesome killings of the citizens of Karachi. Ikram Chaudhry further said the meeting expressed the resolve to forge unity among the legal fraternity so that such incidents could not occur in future.
It was also demanded in the resolution that the proceedings, earlier in progress in Sindh High Court into the May 12 carnage should be restored so that people involved in the incident could be nabbed and awarded exemplary punishment. Speaking on the occasion, Qazi Muhammad Anwar expressed the resolve to continue struggle for independence of judiciary, supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law. He said the lawyers' community was fully united for its absolute cause and expressed the hope that the lawyers' community as well as the office-bearers of SCBA would not compromise on their common cause - the independence of judiciary.