City’s lawyers protest over Lahore melee

KARACHI: The city’s legal fraternity boycotted court proceedings on Tuesday and organised a protest rally from the city courts building to MA Jinnah Road against torture and manhandling of lawyers in Lahore during a protest demonstration.

The Sindh Bar Council had asked the legal fraternity to boycott the courts and hold protest demonstrations against what they termed negative actions of judges in Lahore and Multan against senior lawyers.

Lawyers representing the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) and the Malir Bar Association also supported the boycott. The Sindh High Court, however, saw partial boycott of legal proceedings.

KBA President Naim Qureshi said he was, though, not supporting the strike but demanded that it should be ascertained as to why Lahore High Court judges abandoned the Multan bench and issued show cause notice against bar president and others. 

Qureshi, however, condemned torture and manhandling of lawyers in Lahore during the protest demonstration.   He alleged that senior judges of the Supreme Court and high courts had appointed junior lawyers as judges who were taking negative actions against advocate in Lahore and Multan.

The KBA president demanded establishment of a fact-finding committee to ascertain as to who was responsible for the actions against senior lawyers. The conflict started on Monday when the Lahore High Court issued arrest warrants for Multan Bar President Sher Zaman in a contempt of court case.

Heading a full bench, the LHC chief justice heard the case and ordered the PRO Multan to arrest Sher Zaman and his companion lawyers and bring them to the court. During the hearing, lawyers caused ruckus in the court and broke a court’s door.

Later the lawyers gathered outside the LHC at GPO Roundabout and police used tear gas and water canon to disperse the protesters. The protesters demanded of the LHC chief justice to suspend the arrest order against Multan Bar President Sher Zaman.