Where is the writ of state?

Islamabad : Norms of legal practice by the lawyers in Pakistan have become anything but upholding law and legal traditions to assist the courts and the society.

This sounds so unfortunate but if one may cast a glance over the shoulder the profession of lawyer, practicing law, has transformed into the one that is more associated with hooliganism, vandalism, abusing legal traditions, even harassing judges, especially in the judiciary.

In fact, it has gone beyond harassment as there have been quite a few unfortunate incidents in which the lawyers have physically manhandled judges in their courts as well as in their chambers.

Even after having such acts of the worst kind of hooliganism inside courts and chambers of the Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court, these lawyers, instead of feeling any remorse, openly take pride of their deplorable acts.

If the police or the administration tries to take any action against them they very conveniently declare those actions as an attack on lawyer fraternity and go on strikes, sometimes countrywide.

Over the last couple of decades, these lawyers have become yobs and goons and most unfortunate is the fact that there are very few from their own ranks, especially the senior ones, who would dare raise a voice to condemn their actions.

Once upon a time, those were the journalists who were considered to be in this ‘unpleasant category’ or if one may be blunt enough, the blackmailers. But now these lawyers have left the journalists behind by furlongs.

The latest, and undoubtedly the most unfortunate and the shameful incident in the Islamabad High Court has surpassed any in the past. The frightening factor is that instead of feeling ashamed over what they have done, which is all captured on camera, and that too most probably by the lawyers themselves using their cell phone cameras and is being circulated on the social media, they are still hurling threats at the government, the police, the judiciary and the administration.

Now what exactly has happened in Islamabad is that the local police and administration has acted strictly in line with the directions passed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to retrieve the public land under adverse possession.

Over the last almost three decades these lawyers practicing in the Islamabad District and Sessions courts have illegally occupied the green areas, the public parking spaces, and even the children football ground.

There must be dozens if not hundreds of complaints and applications submitted to the local administration, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and maybe the Islamabad Police as well against this illegal occupation of public land in F-8 Markaz. So daring are these lawyers that they have even occupied the land that was under the use of Margalla Police Station in one corner of the F-8 Markaz.

The CDA and the city administration with the support of Islamabad Police tried to retrieve this public land from illegal occupation of these lawyers many times in the past as well. But each such attempt was thwarted by these lawyers and each time they physically beat back the CDA, the Islamabad administration and the Islamabad Police.

This was the first time that the CDA, the Islamabad administration, supported by the Islamabad Police managed to raze a few of these thousands of illegal structures. And this action carried out inline with the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan infuriated these lawyers to the extent that they stormed the office of the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, vandalized his offices, hurled threats, and abuses at the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court while he was sitting in chair in the office.

They somehow stopped just short of physically manhandling the honourable Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court inside his office and that too because the Rangers were called out because the Islamabad Police turned out to be incapable of controlling these rowdy lawyers.

We have seen the incident of Sargodha where the leaders of the Bar Association presented most outrageous demands to the lower judiciary, the city administration, and the police not to register any case against any lawyer, their family members and their friends even if they were found involved in illegal acts unless and until these leaders of Bar Association are approached first for registering any such case. Isn’t this ridiculous? But this is what the truth is no matter how unfortunate it may sound or appear.

However, this is for the first time that the Islamabad Police has finally picked up some courage, most probably on the directions of the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, to register a real case against a few of these lawyers who stormed the offices of the Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court.

But at the same time, we are getting information that the lawyers have already started manipulating the situation and not only demanding compensation for the illegal structures demolished by the CDA and the Islamabad administration but are in the process of starting litigation against the CDA which, obviously, will linger on for decades.

Meanwhile, they are most likely to get stay order, the easiest thing for the lawyers to get from the court of law in such situations, against this operation.

We still have to hear a few words of condemnation against this vandalizing of these Islamabad lawyers from the saner elements of lawyer fraternity of Pakistan.

After the trembling episode, the people believe in the supremacy of law and judiciary, enquire: Where the state stands? Where writ of the State exists, and what is the enduring solution of this unremitting concern?