Lawyers on a collision course

Even a month after a five-judge bench of the apex court announced its ruling in the Panama Papers case, members of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) have refused to withdraw their demand for the prime minister’s resignation – a stand that they insist is principled and based on their interpretation of the verdict. Organising a convention on the role of the bars and their future strategy on Saturday, they were hoping to ratchet up the pressure on the prime minister and deepen the resolve of bar members. Their convention, however, was rudely interrupted by a group of lawyers affiliated with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) who stormed into the conference room and misbehaved with the SCBA leaders. The ruckus itself lasted a good hour or so before members of the host bars managed to restore order and drive away the intruders.

Such a confrontation was unnecessary and should have been avoided because instead of stopping the convention and teaching its organisers a lesson it gave them another excuse to intensify their campaign. The whole purpose of intervening and dissuading the bar members – and their colleagues -- from continuing their protest was thus lost. Now a nationwide campaign against the prime minister has been called if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif does not turn in his resignation by May 27. Perhaps the most revolting part of Saturday’s showdown in Lahore was the disruptive role played by the federal and provincial law officers who were among those committing acts of vandalism as they attempted to derail the convention. The lawyers locked up the SCBA president Rasheed A Razvi and secretary Aftab Ahmad Bajwa in the library room of the high court bar association. A declaration issued at the end of the convention called for the immediate resignations of the prime minister, the National Accountability Bureau chairman and the Federal Investigation Agency director general. The PML-N lawyers forum have rejected these demands and contested the actions of both the SCBA and LHCBA leaders, accusing them of following the unholy agenda of the opposition parties. The Pakistan Bar Council, according to pro-government lawyers, is a truly representative bar as it has rejected calls for the PM’s resignation.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2017.

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