Judicial policy Lawyers boycott court proceedings

Lawyers says that they were being forced to dispose of cases which will ultimately overburden the high court.

PESHAWAR:

Lawyers in Peshawar and Hazara district boycotted court proceedings to protest the judicial policy, which calls for disposing all cases pending in lower courts by December 31.

Responding to a call of the Pakistan Bar Council, lawyers held a strike to protest against the policy, saying that it had several glitches. They said that they were being forced to dispose of cases which will ultimately overburden the high court.

“Justice hurried is justice buried,” a lawyer said, adding that the policy is an “extra-constitutional step.” Because of the strike, many people were seen standing outside the Peshawar High Court.

President of the Abbottabad bench High Court Bar Association, Advocate Saeed Akhtar Khan, said litigants cannot get justice if cases have to be wrapped up hurriedly. Earlier in September, a similar strike was called after the Peshawar High Court ordered lower courts to dispose all cases filed before the year 2000 by September 30 this year.
WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY OUR CORRESPONDENT IN ABBOTTABAD

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2012.