Lawyers boycott court proceedings in protest against ‘police inaction’

On a call from the Sindh Bar Council and the Karachi Bar Association (KBA), the legal fraternity boycotted legal proceedings at the City Courts and District Court Malir on Thursday.

This action was taken in response to an attack on lawyers protesting against police inaction following the torture of one of their colleagues. Lawyers blocked all entrances to the City Courts, preventing litigants and judicial officers from entering the judicial complex. As a result, under-trial prisoners were not brought for hearings.

A general body meeting of the KB), conducted by General Secretary Ikhtiar Ali Channa and presided over by President Amir Nawaz Warraich, addressed the incident involving Advocate Abdul Fatah, which occurred on October 23. The meeting noted that members of the KBA rushed to the Mahmoodabad police station after the incident, where Mehmoodabad SHO Aijaz Khattak allegedly acted in collusion with the accused and humiliated the lawyers.

The KBA reported that when lawyers gathered on Korangi Road near NMC Hospital to peacefully protest, they were attacked by ‘gunda elements’ armed with stones and batons, allegedly under police supervision. Several motorcycles belonging to the protesters were set on fire, and numerous lawyers, including Sindh Bar Council member Iqbal Inayat Jatoi, sustained injuries.

During the meeting, the KBA adopted a resolution stating that SSP East Dr Farrukh Raza intentionally and willfully exhibited bias by directing the Mahmoodabad SHO not to lodge an FIR regarding the lawyers' complaints. This, the resolution claimed, damaged the reputation of the KBA's esteemed members.

The KBA asserted that the attack on lawyers was pre-planned and orchestrated in collusion with police officers, who threatened the organisation’s office-bearers with dire consequences if the protest continued. The resolution called for departmental action against SSP Farrukh Raza, SP Clifton Majida Halepoto, SHO Aijaz Khattak, and other police officers for creating an atmosphere of terror and harassment against lawyers. It also demanded the removal of SHO Khattak and the suspension or transfer of SSP Raza, SP Halepoto, and SHO Defence Ghulam Nabi Afridi.