Pak CJ sacking: SAARC law panel puts off Karachi meet

“We think that the Chief Justice has been wrongly removed and such action warrants strong condemnation from our side,” Munjal said, adding that President Musharraf may try to make Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz a scapegoat in the episode as the CJ was removed on the recommendations of the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, the groundswell of support for Chaudhry is building up. Six judges have already resigned in protest and the legal community throughout the world has strongly reacted to authoritarian and undemocratic action of the Pakistan government.

The legal fraternity in India has come out strongly in support of protesting lawyers in Pakistan. The Bar associations and other legal luminaries in India expressed their concern over the suppression of democratic norms in Pakistan. The Supreme Court Bar Association called upon all democratic forces to intervene and fight for restoration of rule of law in Pakistan.

P H Parikh, President of Confederation of Indian Bar, told The Indian Express that all civilised constitutions promise independence of the judiciary. “This incident has proved that democracy does not exist in Pakistan. The legal community should unite and condemn such actions so that a strong message is conveyed to the government in Pakistan that there will be national and international repercussions” Parikh said.

Senoir Supreme Court advocate K K Venugopal said that the entire legal fraternity has been shocked by the incident. There is a silver lining to it however, he said, in that it has provided a rallying point for the legal community in Pakistan to fight for its democratic rights and serves as a wake up call for the people there. “We have no control over what is happening in a foreign country but individual as well as collective protest will continue to put pressure on the Pakistani establishment” Venugopal said.