Although all arrangements were complete for Chief Justice (CJ) of the Sindh High Court (SHC) Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh to take the oath of his office as Supreme Court judge, he did not reach the apex court building on Tuesday for the purpose, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Quoting sources, the TV channel reported that the SHC CJ on Monday had conveyed to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed and President Arif Alvi his decision of not attending the ceremony.

The apex court had, on Monday, issued the notification of the oath-taking ceremony of SHC CJ Ahmed Ali Sheikh as ad hoc SC judge.

On Monday, Sindh Bar Council and other bodies of lawyers of the province had announced to go on a strike today (Tuesday, August 17) to protest against the appointment of Chief Justice (CJ) of Sindh High Court (SHC) Justice Ahmad Ali Sheikh as Supreme Court (SC) judge on ad hoc basis.

In this connection, Sindh Bar Council, Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) and Karachi Bar Association had issued declarations.

Terming the ad hoc appointment of the SHC CJ as SC judge against the apex court verdicts, senior lawyers told media they had serious reservations over it.

There was a crowd gathered outside the city courts in Karachi on Tuesday morning as the Karachi Bar Association office-bearers shut down the gates to protest over the issue of the appointment of SHC CJ to the Supreme Court.

Reporters Amanat Gishkori and Mumtaz Jamali