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Thursday March 28, 2024

PBC offers legal aide to woman victim of lawyer

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has announced to provide legal assistance to the young working woman in Sialkot after the lawyers in her own and neighbouring district refused to represent only because the case is against an advocate accused of harassing and firing.Anam Ashraf who survived two gun attacks, the

By our correspondents
October 04, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has announced to provide legal assistance to the young working woman in Sialkot after the lawyers in her own and neighbouring district refused to represent only because the case is against an advocate accused of harassing and firing.
Anam Ashraf who survived two gun attacks, the latest in last month, had named Imran Saeed Advocate for carrying out this attempt on her life.
She had approached different lawyers in Sialkot and Gujranwala but none was ready to become her counsel since the accused is a lawyer facing charges of first harassing and then firing at that left her injured and bed-ridden. The News reported about it in the Saturday’s edition.
Although the President of Sialkot Bar Association regretted offering Anam even paid legal help against a lawyer colleague, Vice Chairman of Pakistan Bar Council has termed this trend ‘unfortunate’ and vowed to provide lawyer not only to her but to anybody facing such trouble.
As for as the position of Sialkot Bar’s president, Khawaja Awais, is concerned, he told The News: “We (the lawyers) generally give regard to each other. If you ask for my services, I would tend not to indulge in any case involving lawyers being the bar’s president.”
Anam Ashraf had told The News approaching Khawaja Awais, among others, for engaging as a counsel but was refused. The bar’s president denied being contacted, nevertheless confirmed his unwillingness to take up such cases.
Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council Azam Nazir Tarar took entirely different position. He said every citizen has a legal right to engage a lawyer and the services can’t be refused only because the accused is from legal fraternity.
Citing an example of Asma Jehangir, he said she agreed to represent MQM chief Altaf Hussain, lawyer community’s opposition notwithstanding. The legal community didn’t have fond memories of MQM, he said with reference to the lawyers’ killing in Karachi in 2007. Nevertheless, Altaf Hussain’s right of getting a choice lawyer has been acknowledged.
Another incident is of Daska where lawyers were killed during clashes with the police. The police inspector accused of killing has been offered legal support by three lawyers including two retired judges of Lahore High Court, he said. “We had even managed the passage of resolution from Daska Bar declaring that the accused policemen can engage lawyers of choice,” he said.
Regarding Anam Ashraf case, he said that provincial bar councils and Pakistan Bar Council are duty bound to provide legal services to anybody including her. “She will not be disappointed in case she contacts us,” he said adding, “I urge media to generate awareness among masses to contact the provincial bar councils for provincial matters and Pakistan Bar Council for cases at federal level for legal aid in case they are being denied this right.”