Spat between lawyers and police bears fruit

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the Ministry of Law and Justice Affairs and the district administration to build 1,000 chambers for lawyers of Islamabad.

These are to be built in sector G-11 under the ‘Insaaf tak Rasai’ programme and following the president’s directive work has begun immediately.

Earlier, the President was informed about clashes between the Islamabad Bar Association and police, the second one this year, over the construction of lawyers’ chambers.

The president has directed the Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Babar Awan to take charge of the programme. An important meeting of the local administration officials was conducted on Monday in which it was decided to accelerate the construction work for a new district courts complex, which is now going to house the newly announced lawyers’ chambers.

Offices of local administration, police and district courts had to be shifted four years ago to the newly constructed Judicial Complex in sector G-10, but former President Pervez Musharraf set up Islamabad High Court there instead.

“The lawyers were left with no place for their chambers,” officials added.

While briefing Chief Commissioner Islamabad Tariq Mahmood Pirzada, the concerned officers said that construction of the complex was to be completed within 18 months, starting from March this year.

Pirzada instructed to accelerate the construction work and complete it before the prescribed time. He also directed the concerned officers to pursue the Law ministry for immediate release of funds for ‘Insaaf tak Rasai’ programme, so that the chambers could be started.

The Chief Commissioner will meet Babar Awan to discuss this matter in the next few days. Pirzada also asked the Capital Development Authority to release funds of Rs200 million immediately, so that construction work on the complex, as a whole, could be intensified.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2010.