K-P lawyers call off strike against changes to laws for a month

PESHAWAR: Lawyers in the province on Thursday called off their strike of courts against amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) 1908, and the introduction of an anti-narcotics law by the provincial government.

The major lawyers’ body of the province, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Bar Council, had been on strike for the past 23 days, demanding the provincial government reverse its decision, which they claimed will make litigants spend additional sums of money in cases filed under CPC 1908.

The decision to call off the strike was taken in a meeting of the K-P Bar Council with vice-chairperson Saeed Khan in the chair. The meeting was also attended by a large number of lawyers.

During the meeting, many lawyers shared their views about the government’s proposed amendments to the law and finally accepted the provincial government’s request to defer their strike for a month.

The lawyers, though, expressed their reservations about the lack of progress made in connection with the K-P Control of Narcotics Substance Act (CNSA) 2019, by the provincial government.

However, the meeting announced that the lawyers’ body will give the government time to revisit the controversial bills in the best interests of litigants and lawyers.

They added that the government has been informed about their reservations through various channels, and now it was the government’s turn to address it.

The government had forced them to completely boycott courts but now they have called the strike and will wait for government’s response, they added.

The bar council’s vice-chairperson said that they have already challenged the amendments in court and urged the lawyers to remain united.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2020.