Convention: Lawyers voice concerns over judicial system in G-B

Express reservations over presence of armed guards inside Supreme Appellate Court

GILGIT: Lawyers in Gilgit-Baltistan voiced their reservation over the existing judicial system of the region, saying it lacked constitutional backing.

They were speaking at a convention held on Saturday. The event was attended by lawyers from Supreme Appellate Court, High Court Bar Association, G-B Bar Council and district bar associations.

“We do not trust the existing judicial system as it is a product of a statutory regulatory order (SRO),” the declaration passed at the end of the convention read. “The solution is [to establish] a circuit bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan in G-B and this is what our demand is.”

Simmering tension

The convention comes days after G-B faced one of its worst judicial crises after G-B chief court and other lower judiciary refused to accept G-B Supreme Appellate Court decision to suspend a registrar.

Supreme Appellate Court Chief Judge Justice Rana Shamim had suspended registrar chief court Mumtaz Ahmed for handcuffing a general manager for allegedly refusing to reserve rooms for guests who happened to be a serving judge of the Peshawar High Court.

Legal affairs

The lawyers also demanded the G-B Assembly should be upgraded as constituent assembly along the lines of Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly. They added the status of the judiciary should be that of a constitutional judiciary.

While speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Peoples Party president Advocate Amjad Hussain said G-B’s judicial system should be similar to the judiciary in Indian-occupied Kashmir. He said the G-B Empowerment and Self Governance Order, 2009 was not the Constitution of G-B. On the contrary, it was an order which lacked any legal backing whatsoever.

Similarly, High Court Bar Association President Advocate Kifayat said the lawyers would always be ready to render sacrifices to uphold the supremacy of law.

The lawyers asked the Supreme Appellate Court and chief court to discharge their duties within the parameters set in the 2009 order.

In the end, they voiced their reservations over the presence of armed guards inside the Supreme Appellate Court. They said such acts make justice dispensation seem all the more suspicious.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2016.