IHC terms strike in district courts ‘shameful’

Notices issued to secretaries of interior, law and CDA chief and IDBA president

ISLAMABAD: With litigants suffering for a month due to a strike by lawyers, the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) top judge has taken notice of the matter and has summoned top officials of the law enforcement, legal and civil administration of the federal capital.

While hearing a petition filed by Chaudhry Muhammad Akram, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Wednesday remarked that it was shameful that courts in the federal capital had been locked up for a month where thousands of cases were pending.

He added that this was the first time in the city that lawyers had gone on a strike for such a long time.

Justice Minallah observed that it was embarrassing for the entire legal fraternity that lawyers had encroached upon the judges' entry gate and parking space reserved for them. Moreover, they had encroached on space reserved for litigants — referring to the lawyer chambers built in a facilitation centre for litigants in the Sector F-8 Kutchery —and offices of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO).

These chambers, he said, had been labelled as a security risk by the law enforcement bodies.

He went on to express his surprise that members of the Islamabad District Bar Association (IDBA) were holding regular meetings with him over their issues [judges rotation] but then lawyers unexpectedly decided to strike.

Justice Minallah noted that in such circumstances, the decision of the lawyers to go on a strike appeared irrational.

He claimed that a powerful lobby of lawyers had apparently hijacked the IDBA and had lamented that the bar did not display its power in matters where it should have and refuted the notion that judges were currently holding a strike.

“A number of cases have been adjourned due to the strike,” he lamented.

Lawyers present in the courtroom responded by saying that they too were irked by the strike and asked the IHC chief justice to intervene by visiting the lower courts where they were willing to sit and amicably resolve their issues through talks.

However, the IHC chief justice remarked that the bar must first stand up against the powerful lobby and said that it would be shameful for everyone if everything was taken up in court.

The court summoned secretaries of the interior and the law and justice ministries, the chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) — who also holds the office Islamabad Capital Territory’s chief commissioner, along with the Inspector General (IG) of Islamabad Police.

The president of the Islamabad Bar Association and the vice chairman of the Islamabad Bar Council were also directed to file detailed reported on the matter.

The case was then adjourned until February 4.

The court's orders came a day after a general body meeting of the Islamabad District Bar Association (IDBA) wherein the lawyers had decided to continue their partial boycott of court hearings (on Thursdays and Fridays) until the issue of judge’s rotation is resolved.

The lawyers had claimed that while they had limited their strike to two days in a week, the judges of the district courts were now on strike and set a three-day deadline to end it.

We know who is affected by this. When the judge’s rotation starts, the process will extend to the high court as well, the lawyers had claimed.

IDBA Secretary Yasir Shakeel said that judges had written in the order sheet that there was a security risk.

“If there is an issue of security in the east [courts], then at least hear the cases in the west [courts],” he said.

Lawyers noted that this was not the issue of one person, rather it affected all of them. Hence, they should unite and collectively resolve the matter.

Former IDBA president Riasat Azad, who had launched the strike, reiterated that their chambers had been demolished overnight. He explained that they considered this a challenge to the writ of the bar and hence decided to take a stand and rebuilt the chambers. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2019.