Hooliganism at its best

Footage of a physical fight between lawyers at a sessions court in Lahore is disturbing to say the least. This incident adds to the endless pile of other cases that demonstrate our society’s (further) descent into chaos. The court turned into a wrestling ring when a lawyer, as opposed to presenting his arguments before the judge, slapped another lawyer from the opposing group. And instead of other people trying to control the situation, respective supporters of both lawyers added to the brawl and thrashed each other in court, humiliating the judicial profession by their deplorable behaviour. Unfortunately, however, this is not exactly a unique case. Lawyers and bar associations have displayed such terrible misconduct many times before. Punjab’s lawyers and courts in general are particularly notorious on this front. An incident impossible to forget is that of Daska in 2015 when protesting lawyers put a police station on fire, while some protesters even resorted to attacks on police personnel and vehicles following the killing of two of their colleagues. After this incident, property was damaged around the country and even a commissioner’s house set on fire in Sialkot.

These cases are a mirror image of the lack of tolerance found amidst us as well as further evidence of the deterioration in conduct of individuals associated with what is considered a reputable and noble profession. It is very disconcerting when those who claim to stand for and by the law take law into their hands, just as we saw during the events in Parliament this week. Most worryingly, these are reminders of the depletion of tolerance in our society where from parliament to the court of law no institution is honourable enough to be free from pitiful behaviour.

While this incident at the sessions court was a case of a physical fight disrupting the course of law, there are also countless cases of judges being abused and threatened by lawyers. This is a most dangerous trend. Judges intimidated and pressured by lawyers can possibly not exercise judicial impartiality in their verdicts. There is an extreme need of better performance by professionals associated with the judiciary.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2017.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.