Lawyers boycott courts over sentencing of colleagues

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) boycotted the high court and subordinate courts to protest the rejection of an appeal related to the sentencing of two lawyers by an additional district and sessions judge in Charsadda.

Due to the lawyers’ strike, courts’ proceedings were affected and litigants faced hardships.

Earlier, the PHCBA executive council meeting was held under the chairmanship of Aminur Rehman Yousafzai, which was attended by secretary general Ashfaq Ahmad Daudzai, information secretary Malik Nauman, and others.

The meeting was informed that the additional district and sessions judge in Charsadda had sentenced Jawad Khan, general secretary of the District Bar Association, Charsadda, and a member Sikandar Hayat Khan.

It was told that the court had rejected their application for the suspension of the sentence, which was termed an attempt to create a rift between the bar and the bench.

In protest against the judge’s decision, the PHCBA boycotted the courts and no lawyer appeared in their cases, due to which litigants who had come for the hearing of their cases had to return and judicial proceedings affected.