Conduct unbecoming? Call for strike draws ire of legal fraternity

Suspect’s lawyer Zafar Khokhar is general secretary of the Islamabad Bar Association

ISLAMABAD: Hours after a ruling against his client, the general secretary of the Islamabad Bar Association (IBA) issued a notice calling for a lawyers strike to protest against the conduct of the judge.

IBA General Secretary Zafar Khokhar, the lawyer for Noman Khokhar — one of the main accused in the Fahad Malik murder case — was unable to convince a sessions court judge that his client had fulfilled the bail terms by cooperating with police investigators.

His request to have the case assigned to another judge was also turned down.

He was critical of the proceedings when speaking to The Express Tribune.

Later, in his capacity as general secretary of the IBA, Zafar issued a protest call over the conduct of Additional District and Sessions Judge Pervezul Qadir Memon and demanded a departmental inquiry against him.

The document states that lawyers will observe a complete strike on Monday and will not appear in courts as protest.

It also demands the immediate transfer of Memon from the Islamabad district courts.

The document also makes accusations against the judge regarding an earlier joint resolution by the bar association over the judge’s prior conduct, which led to his transfer.

But the strike call is not sitting well with a number of lawyers, many of whom referred directly to the fact that Fahad Malik — the victim — was a member of the IBA.

Barrister Junaid Jahangir said that many lawyers had rejected the strike call outright, while also underscoring that the deceased was a member of the fraternity.

Khurram Hashmi, a senior lawyer, questioned the motive behind the strike.

“[Bar associations] do not issue strike calls on personal agendas…and the IBA should not act on a personal agenda,” he said.

Hashmi said all lawyers were condemning the move and some of them also wanted to take action against Zafar over how he issued the call.

Explaining the proper procedure, he said Zafar could bring the perceived issue up in the IBA, “but you can’t call a strike.”

Another lawyer said it was the suspect’s right to have a lawyer and they had no issue with Zafar arguing for a man suspected of murdering one of their own, but it did not give him the right to call a strike just because proceedings did not go his way.

Other sources in the legal fraternity also mentioned that there was a buzz regarding rumours that the suspect and his lawyer were close relatives.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2016.