Lawyers reject amendment for licence suspension over protest

The lawyers’ fraternity boycotted the courts on Wednesday in protest against the amendments proposed by the Sindh government in the Legal Practitioners Act, including the one to suspend the licence to practice of those lawyers who protest in future.

The Karachi Bar Association (KBA) held a news conference at the city courts to announce that they reject the amendments to Section 41 of the Act that calls for suspending protesting lawyers’ licences.

They also rejected a proposed amendment through which young lawyers hailing from other cities would not be allowed to exercise their right to vote in the bar associations’ elections for a period of two years.

KBA General Secretary GM Korai said the provincial ministers cannot dare to take any such move. He said that it was incomprehensible as to why the Pakistan Bar Council is trying to create hurdles for the newly enrolled lawyers.

He asserted that the legal fraternity would foil any such move to amend the Act, reminding that similar anti-lawyers moves had successfully been defeated in the past. Korai said that letters have been written to all the district judges, the provincial police chief and other police officials with the request to take action against the judicial staff, fake lawyers and police officials involved in corruption and other illegal practices in district courts.

He said that the incumbent governing body of the KBA had caught fake lawyers and FIRs had also been lodged against them. He added that letters were written to the home secretary and the police chief on the issue of security at subordinate courts. He lamented that they were yet to receive a reply. He, however, thanked the Rangers chief for sending a team to review the security arrangements on the bar association’s request.