Lawyers thrash wardens for stopping them over violation in Lahore

LAHORE: Lawyers allegedly thrashed a warden and an assistant warden for trying to issue them a challan over the violation of traffic rules on Sunday.

Reportedly, the traffic wardens stopped lawyers who were riding a vehicle on Jail Road over the violation of using a cellphone while driving and not using a seatbelt. The warden tried to issue a challan over the violations. However, the lawyers resisted and this led to the exchange of hot words between both parties. The lawyers beat a warden and an assistant warden.

The matter was brought into the notice of Ghalib Market Police Station. Acting SHO said the parties have reached to conciliation and no case was registered.

This is not the first incident of torture by lawyers. On April 01, an incident of misbehaving and threatening a police officer happened in sessions’ court. Inspector Munir Ahmad in a complaint to Islampura Police said ASI Fiaz Ahmad Butter along with Naib Court Faisal Town Police station were in the court to present the accused Bashir Niazi when advocate Malik Maqsood Khokhar, Adeel Advocate and others demanded the copy of the case file. On refusal, the lawyers misbehaved with police officials and also hurled life threats.

Just a few weeks ago, the lawyers tortured and misbehaved with a magistrate in the Cantonment Katchery. The act was also caught on CCTV footage.

In January this year, a banking court judge was tortured by the lawyers. In October last year, an ASI Samar Riaz Khan was tortured in the district and sessions court when he went to submit case record. The Islampura police station registered a case under terrorism charges against the lawyers for torturing, detaining and injuring the policeman. The ASI said the lawyers had thrashed, tortured and intimidated him. He said the lawyers had also torn his uniform and locked him in a room. He alleged that the lawyers had also threatened to kill him if he took legal action against them. The Supreme Court of Pakistan had taken the notice of the incident.

In 2016, a video had surfaced in which lawyers were seen beating up a complainant who had come up to pursue his case in the sessions court.

In 2013, a group of lawyers tortured Income Tax Additional Commissioner Farrukh Majeed. The lawyers were at the additional commissioner’s office for a hearing pertaining to a tax refund when a legal issue turned into a squabble. According to Income Tax office spokesman Khalid Ejaz Mufti, eight lawyers roughed up the officer and tried to drag him out. The lawyers were later joined by 25 other colleagues. They brought down the main entrance of the office and broke the windowpanes. They returned to Farrukh Majeed’s office on the fourth floor and told him to sign the refund papers. On the tax officer’s refusal, the lawyers again thrashed him and his colleague Ayaz Qureshi. Police were then called in and controlled the situation. An FIR of the incident was also registered on the complaint of Farrukh Majeed.

In 2010, lawyers had tortured the Anarkali Police SHO and a media person on the premises of the district and sessions court. The Samanabad police had arrested two people — Sajid Hussain and Nisar Hussain — who happen to be brothers of a woman lawyer, Mohsina Javed. When police produced the accused brothers in a court where Anarkali police Naeem Anwar Bajwa and Inspector Zaheer of the Islampura police were also present in connection with different cases.

A group of lawyers attacked the Anarkali SHO and Islampura police inspector, who had nothing to do with the Samanabad arrests. The lawyers also ripped their uniforms, official documents, abused and threatened them with dire consequences. In the meanwhile, a private news channel team rushed to the spot but the lawyers did not let it cover the incident and instead tortured the media persons.