LAHORE: Nov 3 which had been observed as `black day` for the last many years by lawyers to condemn unconstitutional acts by the then president, retired Gen Pervez Musharraf, in 2007 passed unnoticed this year as no protest activity was held by any of the bar associations or councils.

Musharraf had on Nov 3, 2007, imposed emergency in the country and removed judges of the higher and superior courts for not taking oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO). Some senior judges were also detained for refusing oath under the infamous PCO.

Since then the legal fraternity marks the day as black day by holding protest meetings hoisting black flags on the bar`s premises and appearing before couns wearing black armbands.

`The dictator has become history now, Lahore High Coud Bar Association Secretary Amir Saeed Rawn said while defending his stance on nonobservance of black day this year. He said democracy had forced the dictator to live in isolation outside the country and there was no valid reason to keep observing black day every year on Nov 3.

He further said the 2007 movement launched by the lawyers was not for an individual but for the justice system in the country. However, he regretted that the deposed judges after their restoration failed to meet people`s expectations in respect of dispensation of justice as a whole.