Lawyers announce two-day nationwide strike from today

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has announced a two-day nationwide strike from today (Wednesday) for demanding from Supreme Court of Pakistan for prescription, at the earliest possible, the parameters for exercising its powers under Article 184(3) of the Constitution by way of amendments in the Supreme Court Rules, 1980.

The PBC called upon all the bar associations throughout the country for pressing the demand for reversal of the decision of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC) in respect of sections 22A and 22B of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.) and restoration of the previous practice as to entertainment of applications under said sections.

It resolved that holding of lawyers’ conventions at provincial capitals and at federal capital on the dates to be announced later, in case the demand of the legal fraternity for reversal of decision of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC) in respect of Sections 22A and 22B of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.) is not met with.

In this respect a joint meeting of vice-chairmen and other representatives of Pakistan and provincial/Islamabad Bar councils was held here Tuesday in office of the Pakistan Bar Council, Supreme Court Building, Islamabad with Syed Amjad Shah, Vice-Chairman, Pakistan Bar Council in the chair.

The joint meeting, therefore, after lengthy deliberations and endorsing the resolutions of the Pakistan Bar Council, provincial/Islamabad Bar councils and numerous Bar bodies, resolved to demand the Supreme Court of Pakistan for prescription, at the earliest possible, the parameters for exercising its powers under Article 184(3) of the Constitution by way of amendments in the Supreme Court Rules, 1980, as earlier proposed by the Pakistan Bar Council.

It also resolved to demand for making effective enforcement of Article 209 of the Constitution for meaningful accountability of judges of superior judiciary and expeditious disposal of references against judges of the superior courts filed with the Supreme Judicial Council, at the earliest and further that the concerned judge should be restrained from working as judge till the complaint/reference against him, is decided.

Similarly, it will also be demanded filling of the vacancies of judges lying in the Superior Courts as well as lower courts, which definitely would help disposal of backlog of cases in different courts.

Likewise, the participants of the joint meeting strongly condemned the act of a judge of the NAB court, Karachi as to filing of a compliant/reference against Naeem Qureshi, President, Karachi Bar Association to the High Court of Sindh only for the reason that Qureshi was persuading members of the Bar for observing strike on the call of the Karachi Bar Association. They also deplored the action of the High Court of Sindh for issuing directions, on the basis of said complaint/reference, for filing of FIR against Naeem Qureshi.

They were of the view that abstracting office bearers and elected representatives of the Bar from discharging their responsibilities at the hand of the judiciary, is highly deplorable and so requested the Hon’ble Chief Justice of High Court of Sindh for recalling his directions of filing FIR against president of the Karachi Bar Association.