IHC vandalism: Notices served on 17 lawyers for contempt

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday issued contempt of court notices to 17 lawyers for attacking and vandalizing the court building on Monday.

A case was registered against the lawyers, who stormed the court following demolition of illegal chambers at the district courts. The police conducted raids to arrest the lawyers named in the case. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Islamabad High Court (IHC) said the case was registered against the lawyers involved in attack and vandalism.

The FIR was launched against 300 lawyers; however, 22 lawyers were named in the FIR under terrorism provisions. The spokesperson said some lawyers attacked the chief justice’s block and vandalised it and contempt of court proceedings have been initiated against them.

He said a reference had been sent to the Islamabad Bar Council for suspending the licenses of lawyers involved in the attack. The spokesperson also clarified that the IHC and district courts carried out their regular work to serve the public. The spokesperson said it had been wrongly reported in some sections of the press that the IHC and district courts had been closed indefinitely.

It was stated that the IHC judges were performing their functions and remained present in their respective chambers. It was clarified that the Islamabad Bar Council (IBA), Islamabad High Court Bar Association and District Bar Association had announced a strike and to avoid inconvenience to the general public and lawyers, the cause lists were cancelled for only one day. The court attack has divided the federal capital’s legal fraternity into two camps.

On Tuesday, 70 legal practitioners — including Umer Ijaz Gilani, Iman Zainab Mazari, Barrister Zainab Janjua, Barrister Ahsan Pirzada, Aneeq Suleman Malik, Sher Asif, Jugnu Kazmi, Barrister Shayan Qaiser, Rimsha Noshab, Suleman Haider, Abdul Aziz Bagri, Mehmana Khattak, Babar Ali Khan, Barrister Adeel Malik, Barrister Khadija Siddiqui, Barrister Pirzada Aurangzeb, Sardar Haseeb Ahmed, Barrister Kabeer Hashmi, Meharunisa Sajid, Rizwan Ahmed, Barrister Ahmad Aziz, Kashifa Niaz and others — issued a statement under their signatures condemning vandalism at the offices of IHC CJ block.

They said attack on the court building was actually an attack on the base of legal profession and demanded the Islamabad Bar Council (IBA) to take strict action against those involved in hooliganism.

They further said a violent mob of lawyers could be seen clearly in the video clips adding that simple condemnation wouldn't be enough and action should be taken under the law. They expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of IBA as this legal forum had failed to regulate the conduct of lawyers, leading to ‘this inappropriate incident’.