Sharif and scores of his supporters were barred by a large police contingent from going to the Judges Colony located in a high-security enclave in the heart of the city.

Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N workers shouted slogans against the government and demanded the reinstatement of judges sacked for not endorsing the emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf on November 3.

Making a short speech outside the colony, Sharif told cheering supporters waving the PML-N’s green flags that the sacrifice made by the deposed judges would not go in vein. He vowed to continue his campaign for the reinstatement of judges, saying that was the only way to ensure free and fair parliamentary polls.

Sharif also lauded the media for standing up to the curbs imposed by the government under emergency rule, and condemned the military regime for forcing news channels to axe anchors who were critical of the administration.
Vacate, judges told

Meanwhile, the deposed Supreme Court judges, who were “retired” through an official notification issued by the law ministry, have been asked to vacate their accommodation in the Judges Colony.

Justice Rana Bhagwandas, one of the deposed judges, said ousted Chief Justice Chaudhry is “completely under solitary confinement” and is not even allowed to take a walk on the lawns of his bungalow in the Judges Colony.
“All the (deposed) judges are virtually under house arrest and can only move about in the Colony. The Chief Justice is completely under solitary confinement because he is not allowed to move out of the house and no one is permitted to visit him,” Bhagwandas told Dawn News channel.

“I asked him whether he was able to have a walk in the huge lawn around his bungalow and he regretted that all the police forces around the bungalow would not permit him to have a free walk alone or with his wife,” he said.

Bhagwandas was also critical of the eviction notices served on the deposed judges, pointing out there were many vacant houses and bungalows within the Judges Colony. Besides, he said, the judges who were sworn in after the imposition of emergency had already been provided official accommodation.

The action was “absolutely extra-constitutional, illegal and immoral” and meant to “demoralise and harass” the deposed judges, he said.

“It is for the civil society, legal fraternity and political parties to espouse the cause of the judges if they want democracy to flourish in the country, because no country can survive without an independent judiciary. No political activity can take place unless there are free and independent courts to dispense justice,” Bhagwandas said.

Musharraf ousted all judges who refused to endorse the emergency within hours of imposing the measure. Most of the deposed judges are under virtual house arrest in Islamabad and other cities.