Lawyers will not block high court gates during strike, SHC assured

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court Bar Association will only persuade and convince the bar members from not joining the court proceedings on the strike days and would not close the gates, the SHCBA president has assured Sindh High Court.

The assurance came on a petition of Mohammad Ali Lakhani and others who sought court directions to ensure the petitioners and litigants are provided unhindered and smooth access to the court premises on working days, including the strikes by bar councils and bar associations. The petitioners said the lawyers’ bodies boycott court proceedings for acceptance of their demands, and in order to make the strike calls a success, the lawyers’ representatives restrain the lawyers from appearing before the courts. They submitted that restraining the plaintiffs and other advocates from entering the courtrooms and attending hearings were illegal and motivated by political considerations. The lawyers were entitled to practise their profession and appear before the courts by exercising their right to disagree and distance themselves from any strike call. The SHC was also asked to direct its registrar to make appropriate arrangements to ensure that advocates were not prevented from entering the courts during strike calls.

The petitioners’ counsel submitted that the gates of the courts are closed by the office bearers of the bar associations during the strike call preventing the advocates and litigants to access in the court building. The counsel submitted that they have no complaint against the strike calls but are perturbed by the resistance and force used to stop advocates from entering the courtrooms. They submitted that they wanted the declaration that during strike days the high court gates should not be blocked and they will not press the petition against the other respondents.

The president of SHCBA gave a clear statement that they only persuade and convince their bar members against joining court proceedings on the strike days but they have neither closed or blocked gates of the high court nor would they resort to any such act in the future. The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar after taking the statement on record disposed of the petition.