LHC seeks foolproof security for judges

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has warned the Punjab government that the law and order is deteriorating day by day across the province, especially on the premises of the Lahore High Court Principal Seat, its Rawalpindi, Multan and Bahawalpur benches and district courts.

According to documents obtained by “Jang”, the Lahore High Court Registrar has written a letter to the Punjab Home Minister, mentioning that several orders have been issued to the IG Punjab foolproof security should be provided to the Lahore High Court, its benches and subordinate courts across the province. “It was unanimously decided in a meeting of Lahore High Court judges on May 9 that there will be zero tolerance regarding the locking of courts and no lawyer will be allowed to enter the courtrooms for striking,” the letter added.

In the letter, the LHC Registrar informed the Punjab government about the decisions of the full court meeting and said that the lockdown in the courts would not be accepted under any circumstances and a single line policy would be formulated in this regard. “In order to maintain the respect of the courts, cases should be registered against the culprits and legal action should be taken against them. It is the responsibility of the state to provide foolproof security to the courts,” the Registrar said and warned that if there was failure, the police, security agencies and relevant government officials would be responsible for it. He told the Home Minister that Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Home Secretary Noorul Amin Mengal, IG Punjab Dr. Usman Anwar and CCPO Bilal Siddique Kamiana had been informed about the decisions of the full court. “If the security of the courts is not made foolproof, then the relevant officers and institutions will be responsible for it, but it seems that your government and the relevant institutions working under your command, are not taking the decisions seriously,” it maintained.

The registrar said, “We have had bitter experiences of various sections attacking the courts to pressurize them and weaken the institutions to achieve their political goals. On May 9, forty to fifty lawyers, led by the General Secretary of the Lahore High Court Bar, forcibly entered the Lahore High Court (Principal Seat) in an insulting manner, where the court proceedings were going on and the honorable judges were hearing cases of the common people. These lawyers told the honorable judges and lawyers appearing in the courts that today is a strike.”

The Registrar said that the lawyers, who had entered by force, also tried to ask the judges to join the strike even though the lawyers’ strikes have been declared illegal in several reported and unreported judgments of the courts.