Litigants suffer as City Courts lawyers protest against ‘fake’ FIR

Members of the legal fraternity observed a complete strike at the City Courts on Monday to protest against registration of what they termed a fabricated FIR against some lawyers for allegedly maltreating a traffic cop.

Hundreds of litigants suffered as lawyers blocked the entrances to the city's largest judicial complex. Though a complete boycott of legal proceedings was observed throughout the day leading to thousands of cases being put off without hearing, the litigants were allowed on the premises following a meeting of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) office bearers with the district and sessions judge (South).

"The Cabinet 2024 was called by the District & Sessions Judge, South, Karachi today at around 10:00am. The judge has called superior officers of the police to resolve the issue of FIR lodged against the advocates in City Courts police station. On the assurance and for the good gesture and in the interest of justice, the litigants have been allowed to enter the court premises," read a statemen issued by the KBA.

It said the judge later presided over a meeting, which was attended by the district and session judges of the other three districts, Traffic DIG Iqbal Dara and other police officers, and KBA office bearers. A committee was constituted to sort out the matter, the statement added.

On January 5, the City Courts police lodged a case against Advocate Malik Nasir, Advocate Rehman and other unidentified lawyers on the complaint of Jamshed Quarters traffic section officer Yousuf Ali Arain.

He stated that on December 8, he fined Advocate Malik Nasir's nephew Hussain, aged 13-14 years, for riding a motorcycle despite being underage. Enraged by the fine, Nasir filed an application against him in a court, he said, alleging that when he came to the City Courts to attend the hearing, both lawyers along with their colleagues beat him up and extended threats of dire consequences.

The FIR was lodged under the sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 337 (shajjah) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Talking to The News, KBA President Amir Nawaz Warraich said a fabricated case was lodged against the lawyers as CCTV footage of the alleged incident refuted allegations levelled by the cop in the FIR.

He claimed that the case was lodged even though a compromise had been reached with the complainant. Warraich said Advocate Nasir filed an application for registration of a case against the police officer for keeping his nephew in illegal detention for eight hours, which was also allowed by the court.