Peshawar’s courts see little to no activity

Lawyers boycott proceedings in PHC and all subordinate courts on the call of PHCBA

PESHAWAR: Courts in Peshawar and in other parts of the province on Friday saw little to no activity as lawyers boycotted proceedings. The strike meant that many litigants had to return home with no progress made in their cases.

The lawyers had boycotted court proceedings on the call of the All Pakistan Joint Lawyers Action Committee and the Supreme Court Bar Association to protest against cases being filed against 250 lawyers and arrest of some of them for their alleged involvement in the attack on the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore.

Following the strike call, the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) general secretary called for a strike throughout the province and instructed all lawyers of the country not to appear before the court in solidarity.

Responding to the call, the black coats stayed away from proceedings in Peshawar High Court (PHC), the district and sessions court and all other subordinate courts on Friday.

As a result, courts found themselves paralyzed in conducting proceedings in any case.

Key cases such as the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa amendments to civil law, the murder of a lawyer in Swat and a petition over the Lahore incident were left pending due to the boycott.

On Thursday, two cases on a range of charges, including terrorism and murder, against more than 250 lawyers who ran riot on Wednesday rampaging through the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), beating up medics, nurses – and even attendants, and damaging furniture and equipment at the facility.

At least three cardiac patients died as doctors and paramedical staff ran for safety while leaving them unattended at the ICU as scores of people donning black suits and wearing neckties stormed the province’s largest cardiac facility.

The first FIR was filed by Saqib Shafi Sheikh on behalf of the PIC with Shadman police station in which he has nominated 21 lawyers – including Lahore Bar Association (LBA) General Secretary Malik Maqsood Khokhar, Vice President Ijaz Basra and LBA presidential hopeful Rana Intiza.

The case was registered under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and Sections 322, 452, 353,186, 354, 148, 337-H (2), and 395 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

In the FIR, the complainant alleged that he was on duty at PIC’s emergency department along with other doctors when he received a telephone call warning that a group of 200-250 enraged lawyers—led by LBA General Secretary Malik Maqsood Khokhar and Vice President Ijaz Basra—was heading towards the facility. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2019.