Lawyers observe black day in solidarity with Quetta bombing

Legal proceedings suspended at SHC and other courts

KARACHI: Lawyers observed black day on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of the Quetta suicide bomb blast that claimed 73 lives last year.
Fifty-six lawyers, among 73 people, were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Civil Hospital, Quetta, where the lawyers had accompanied the body of the Balochistan Bar Association President Bilal Anwar Kasi, who was shot dead in a targeted attack on August 8, 2016.
Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan had claimed responsibility of the bombing, which was the worst attack on the lawyers in the history of Pakistan.

 To mark the first anniversary of the tragic incident, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) had given a call to observe a black day across the country. On the PBC's call, the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) announced a province-wide protest and boycott of the courts, asking the lawyers associations to join in.
Black flags were hoisted atop the offices of the Sindh High Court Bar Association, the Karachi Bar Association and Malir District Bar Association. Lawyers wore black armbands and held meetings, condemning the killings of their 56 colleagues in Quetta and demanding justice for the families of the victims and survivors.

As a result of the black day, the legal proceedings came to a complete halt at the Sindh High Court (SHC), City Courts, Malir District Courts, special courts and tribunals across the city. The SHC Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh suspended judicial work on the request by the SHC Bar Association members.
Thousands of the cases fixed for the day had to be adjourned, causing difficulties for the litigants. The under trial prisoners, who were brought from prisons, had to be taken back to the barracks without production in courts.



However, the judges remained in their chambers to entertain urgent matters.