Attorney general calls for bridging the gulf between bench and bar

Ashtar Ausaf Ali writes a letter to all law officers urging them to work for creating harmony among judicial organs

ISLAMABAD: The attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) has urged all law officers to play the role of a bridge between the bench and the bar to ease ongoing tensions.

Ashtar Ausaf Ali gave the instructions to more than 130 law officers in the country in a letter.

The letter came two days after lawyers ran riot and scuffled with riot police in Lahore to protest non-bailable arrest warrants for the president of the Multan chapter of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA),

“These are turbulent times and agitation at the bar associations on all the benches is escalating. We need to act proactively and responsibly,” AGP Ashtar Ausaf wrote in the letter.



A five-judge larger bench of the LHC had issued arrest warrants after Sher Zaman Qureshi did not appear in a contempt of court case.

On July 24, Qureshi and other lawyers allegedly attacked the court of Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan in LHC Multan bench, tore off the judge’s name plate and trampled it under their feet. After the incident, the LHC chief justice withdrew judges from the Multan bench.

“As lawyers it is our responsibility to uphold the dignity of the bar and to show respect to the judicial organ. It is my earnest desire that the attorney general's office should act as a bridge between the bar and the bench,” the AGP letter reads.

“Each one of you has his own respective area of influence and standing at the bar. You are in your own right opinion makers.



He called upon the law officers to “make it known that we stand united in condemning high-handedness”. Strikes and demonstrations do not bring about resolution of disputes between the bar and the bench. Such calls are to be shunned, he added.

The AGP urged the law officers to play their role in bringing an end to the chaos.