Pakistan Bar Council announces nationwide strike on July 2

Legal fraternity to register protest over references filed against Justice Isa, Justice Agha

 ISLAMABAD  : The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Sunday announced that the legal fraternity will observe a nationwide strike on July 2 in protest against the filing of referencec against senior Supreme Court (SC) judge, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and the Sindh High Court's Justice K K Agha.

The decision was conveyed by PBC Vice Chairman Syed Amjad Shah. He said lawyers across the country would hold protest meetings in their bar rooms, while lawyers' representatives would assemble at the Supreme Court premises in Islamabad.

Shah said a meeting of the joint action committee would also be convened at the PBC office at the SC Islamabad building on the same day.

Defiant lawyers burn copies of references during protest outside SC

On June 14, lawyers from bar councils across the country staged a protest outside the SC and burned copies of the references filed against Justice Isa and Justice Agha over non-disclosure of foreign properties in their wealth statements.

Wearing black bands in solidarity with the accused judges, the Supreme Court Bar Council (SCBA) led the protest.

The lawyers questioned ‘tainted record’ of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) as an authority to hear references against senior judges.

The presidential references were filed against two judges who are widely recognised and acknowledged as independent, upright and competent judges.

A former Supreme Court judge – who had taken oath under the 2007 Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) — was hired to file the reference by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The references accuse the judges of allegedly possessing properties in the United Kingdom.

The move garnered criticism from the legal fraternity with the SCBA demanding President Dr Arif Alvi’s impeachment and the removal of Law Minister Farogh Naseem for filing the references.