PESHAWAR: Expressing solidarity with the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the lawyers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday boycotted courts in protest against the alleged anti-judiciary campaign launched by the real estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain.
The lawyers’ bodies observed complete boycott of the courts on the call of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council to show solidarity with the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and register protest against the anti-judiciary campaign. Like other parts of the province, lawyers in the provincial capital observed boycott of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the subordinate courts.
The Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) and Peshawar District Bar Association (PDBA) held a joint protest meeting in the PHC Bar Room. It was chaired by the PHCBA President Abdul Lateef Afridi.
PHCBA General Secretary Qazi Jawad Ihsanullah Qureshi presented a resolution to express solidarity with the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. “We undertake to continue our struggle for the independence of the judiciary. We shall not tolerate anyone to defame and ridicule the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of Pakistan. We stand for the establishment of rule of law in the country and vow to foil any conspiracy hatched against the superior judiciary,” the KP lawyers pledged through the unanimously passed resolution.
They also demanded that an impartial and independent inquiry be conducted to probe the allegations levelled by Malik Riaz against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar and if the accusations were found correct, both be punished according to law. The association also condemned a few media men and anchors, who attempted to malign the judiciary during the entire episode.
PHCBA President Abdul Lateef Afridi, PDBA’s President Wakeel Zaman Khattak, Ghulam Nabi, Muhammad Essa Khan, Ayaz Khan, Barrister Bacha and Mauzzam Butt advocate spoke at the protest meeting.Lawyers in other parts of the province also boycotted courts to express solidarity with the superior judiciary.
MINGORA: The lawyers community in Swat boycotted the courts. Talking to reporters, president of Swat Bar Sher Muhammad Khan said lawyers would foil conspiracies against the supremacy and independence of the judiciary. He said lawyers had rendered sacrifices for the restoration of the judiciary would not hesitate to launch another movement to foil conspiracy against the superior judiciary.