Lawyer vs police: Lawyer thrashes guard at Aiwan-i-Adl

Constable says lawyer assaulted him; lawyer says he was abused.

LAHORE:

A lawyer and a companion knocked a police constable to the ground and kicked and punched him at the main entrance to Aiwan-i-Adl on Saturday, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Police officials said that the constable had merely stopped the lawyer to search him, while the latter claimed that the constable had abused him verbally. CCTV footage showed a lawyer named Fahad Butt, wearing a white shirt and black trousers but no black coat, entering the premises at 9.02am when he is stopped by Constable Noor Muhammad, 50. A scuffle ensues and the lawyer punches the policeman in the face, knocking him to the ground. The lawyer then kicks and punches the prone policeman. No lawyer witnessing the incident tried to stop him.

Police officials deployed at the gate said that the lawyer began abusing the constable when he stopped him for checking.

They said that the constable told him that impersonating a lawyer was easy since it only required wearing a white shirt and black trousers, so it would be prudent to check him. The lawyer, they said, flared up in anger at the comment and assaulted the constable. They accused him of thuggery.

Advocate Fahad Butt denied punching the constable. He said that the constable had abused him. “He is deployed there to ensure security, not to abuse lawyers and litigants,” he said.

Lahore Bar Association president Shehzad Hassan Sheikh condemned the incident, saying it was important for police guards to check everyone entering the courts. He asked all lawyers to cooperate with the guards.

Advocate Muhammad Tahir condemned the incident, saying the lawyer should not beat an official who had been deployed for their security.

Security at the city’s courts has come under the spotlight recently after a gunman snuck into the Sessions Court two weeks ago and shot and killed two defendants at a murder trial.



Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2011.