Under pressure to reinstate 60 judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan government on Thursday "reappointed" eight of them, a move seen as being selective by the influential lawyers' movement as there was no word on restoration of the deposed Chief Justice.

The eight deposed judges of the Sindh High Court took oath in the Governors' house in Karachi, a day after Asif Ali Zardari, presidential nominee of the ruling PPP, adopted a conciliatory tone and apologised to estranged ally PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif while asking his party to rejoin the government.

Sharif pulled out of the ruling coalition on Monday accusing Zardari of reneging on the promise to restore the judges sacked by Musharraf during emergency rule last year.

Anwar Zahir Jamali was appointed the new Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court. An official notification said the deposed judges of the other provincial High Courts would be reinstated soon as well.

However, there was no indication on whether former Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry would be reinstated. Musharraf axed the judges when it appeared that Chaudhry would rule against his re-election in uniform.

The former military ruler resigned last week to avoid impeachment by the ruling coalition.

A Law Ministry ministry official here said the restoration of the eight judges signalled the beginning of the process to reinstate all deposed members of the superior judiciary.

The government decision was dubbed by lawyers as a "political stunt" and a conspiracy to divide the judges and lawyers.

Thorny issue

PPP Chairman Zardari had earlier said that his understanding with the PML-N on reinstating the judges deposed by Musharraf was not "sacrosanct" and could be modified to suit the evolving political scenario.

He had refused to set a timeframe for restoring the sacked judges.

Showing his reluctance for restoration of the former Chief Justice, Zardari had said Chaudhry had become "too politicised."

The government today also approved an increase in the strength of the Sindh High Court from 28 to 40 judges.

President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Aitzaz Ahsan voiced his disappointment over the government move. The lawyers have been demanding that all the sacked judges should be restored in one go.

The deposed judges had earlier refused offers to return to their jobs, insisting on the reinstatement of all of them including Chaudhry, but the PPP-led government has now succeeded in getting some of them to agree to fresh appointments.

On August 6, Musharraf had signed a notification to reinstate the eight judges of the Sindh High Court but the move was put off following a protest from the PML-N, which was then still part of the government.

However, even at that time, deposed Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court Sabihuddin Ahmed, a critic of Musharraf, was not among the judges who were restored.