LAHORE- In the wake of eight Sindh High Court judges fresh oath and reappointment of four deposed judges of the Lahore High Court with the benefits of original seniority, the govt has almost done half the job towards bringing the deposed judges back to the judiciary. Of the total 26, 16 judges of SHC and 10 LHC judges, who defied the PCO on November 3 hence deposed, 12 have accepted re-appointment sealing fate of the others including the reinstatement of deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Reports suggest the authorities did not contact some judges in Sindh and Punjab. The others refused re-appointment and fresh oath describing it an instrument to accept the November 3 PCO which they believe, the then Army Chief brought in with unclean hands and without any Constitutional authority to get his candidature for the Presidentship contest accepted by the Apex Court. The judges left out of re-appointment have in fact sealed their fate alongwith the reinstatement of deposed CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and it did not mean, they have lost the game but sooner or later, they may again come to a limelight, said an observer. On November 3, 12 Supreme Court judges were deposed. Of them Justice Rana Baghwandas has retired while Justice Javed Iqbal by accepting the Chairmanship of Press Council, is out of the scene. As per reports, the re-appointment of five SC deposed judges is also on the cards, most likely before September 6, after re-appointment of two of the four deposed PHC Judges. But who are these SC Judges, is anybody's guess so far. The notable point here is, a seven-member Bench of the SC taking up a pending matter, had stayed implementation of the November 3 PCO and the state of emergency the same evening. Taking lead from the same decision, over 60 judges of the superior judiciary refrained from taking the PCO oath. And what would be the effect of that decision if the SC members on the same Bench also accept fresh oath and re-appointment taking clue from the decision later on passed by the Full Court of PCO judges to scrap that interim stay. Days after November 3 about 26 judges from all three High Courts also took oath of the PCO and in the final sum, about 39 judges were left out, of them position of 26 has been demarcated. As to the LHC, deposed Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry accepted membership in the PPSC while another Justice Jahangir Arshad got retired whereby they were dropped out. And four judges are still deposed after four have accepted return. The return of SHC and LHC judges has almost drawn a clear cut line making the job half done by the govt and testing the nerves of the deposed judges and the lawyers continuing with the movement of restoration without any fresh oath, as commented the analysts. The lawyers, undoubtedly after running a historic movement and succeeding in building up support for the cause of independent judiciary through judges' restoration, are somewhat in troubled waters at present. Prior to elections, lawyers movement was on all cylinders mainly with the backing of the political parties as they all looked at General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf as their common enemy. But after the elected govt took charge the political expediencies and political aims took the lead and it put the movement into disarray. Now the situation is lawyers all over the country have formed a National Coordination Council with the representation of Bars from every tier of the country to regulate the movement, but the statutory body of the community, Pakistan Bar Council does not accept it. The PBC wants to itself regulate the movement but skeptic hits at it credentials after it has vindicated re-appointment and fresh oath of the judges. Of the 22 PBC members, one is holding the office of Federal Law Minister while the other is the Attorney General of Pakistan. The Vice Chairman of the body is quite cool after the govt has provided Rs 50 million grant in aid to the Bar. The sources confided that besides the said two functionaries, other members of the body, mostly affiliated with PPP played a very active role for return of the judges. In this situation, the onus to continue the movement has been shifted to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) whose President Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan is also chairing the Council. On the call of Aitzaz Ahsan lawyers all over the country held two hours sit-ins all over the country last Thursday. A big majority of lawyers reciprocate Aitzaz Ahsan's views when he says, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is the Chief Justice of Pakistan and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto on the threshold of his besieged house on November 10 had announced to reinstate him. On the other hand, Law Minister Farooq H Naek says, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar is the constitutional Chief Justice of Pakistan and did not take oath under PCO. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani is repeatedly saying all judges including deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would be reinstated negating Law Minister's statement. Analysts say the PPP and PBC are playing hot and cold on the judges issue to keep the lawyers confused and not to let them focus on the movement. They say, in this situation what turn the lawyers movement would take would be known when the SCBA is going to hold an international conference on independence of judiciary in October next which would be followed by a marathon tour of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to European Union countries and US where he is also scheduled to address the legal community. They say lawyers movement is now showing lackluster due to the cold shoulder by the PBC at the moment and the authorities ,however, projection of the cause of lawyers struggle at the international level may rejuvenate the issue in a different and strong way in the coming months. Now it a sort of race appearing ahead to see whether the govt completes the job first or the legal fraternity shows their stand to the world.