Court work suspended in protest against torture on lawyers

Members of the legal fraternity on Wednesday observed a half-day suspension of court proceedings at the City Courts to protest against “torture, brutality and unlawful action” against lawyers.

The Karachi Bar Association called for suspension of all legal work from 11am onwards.

“As per a decision of the Managing Committee of the Karachi Bar Association dated 12-06-2024, for misbehave, torture, brutality and unlawful action with arms and batons by the personnel of law enforcement agencies against the advocates, the legal fraternity shall not appear in courts proceedings on Wednesday 12th day of June 2024 after 11:00 am,” read a reference sent by the KBA to the district and sessions judge (South), requesting him to suspend all judicial work and restrain judicial officers from issuing any adverse orders against either party over no-show.

Lawyers were allegedly mistreated and tortured at the Defence police station by personnel of a security organisation after an accident involving their cars near Defence Morr on Korangi Road.

Talking to The News, KBA General Secretary Ikhtiar Ali Channa said the Bar took notice of the incident and intervened, after which the matter was settled.

Lawyers staged a sit-in on Korangi Road on Wednesday morning, blocking all traffic. The protest led to sever traffic jam in the area, causing difficulties to office-goers and commuters.