Pakistan’s lawyer-led long march demanding the reinstatement of former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry withstood baton charges, tear gas attacks and mass arrests, a British solicitor told the Gazette from Lahore.

Razi Shah, a partner at Berkshire firm Appleby Shaw and a Law Society council member, said he had witnessed police officers tendering their resignation ‘rather than continue to obey unlawful orders’.

The number of marchers was so great, he said, that ­immobilised buses and trucks blocking the roads were simply lifted out of the way. Lawyers even brought their children to the march to witness the triumph of the rule of law, he said.

‘The army refused to quash the march and President Asif Ali Zardari bowed to popular pressure and announced that Chaudhry would be reinstated on 21 March – which, to save some face, is the day the present incumbent retires.

‘Everyone is relieved, including the government’s supporters, as the blockade of our cities ends and the country begins to return to normality,’ Shah said.