SHC orders TORs for lawyers’ relief package

Seeks details of amount allocated by govt to provide aid to lawyers

HYDERABAD: The Sindh government has formed a three-member committee to devise a relief package for the legal fraternity, in compliance with the Sindh High Court's (SHC's) order. In this regard, additional advocate general Syed Aley Maqbook Rizvi proposed the names of committees members to the Hyderabad Circuit Bench on Tuesday.

The committee will be headed by Sindh Bar Council chairperson advocate Haider Imam Rizvi while Sindh High Court Bar Association president advocate Ziaul Haq Makhdoom will be as a member in the committee.

The bench asked Rizvi to prepare terms of reference to initiate the provision of financial assistance to the lawyers in need.

"[But] surprisingly, the Sindh government hasn't brought anything on record to show that any amount has been allocated [for the purpose]," the court observed. Rizvi was directed to submit details of the amount allocated for the purpose to the court at the next hearing on May 19.

At the last hearing of the case on May 5, the bench had directed the Sindh government to take cue from the Punjab government, which had allocated Rs100 million on account of relief funds for the province's lawyers. The government was given a week's time for compliance but so far only half of the order has been implemented.

The order was given on the petition filed by advocates Mumtaz Ahmed Lashari and Noorul Ameen Sipio. "The court may direct the government to disburse [funds] for lawyers through the lawyers' welfare or benevolent fund," they had pleaded.

They placed before the court the financial strains which many of the lawyers were experiencing and argued that like other segments of society, they also required financial relief from the government. The petitioners had demanded a Rs100,000 grant for senior advocates and a Rs50,000 grant for junior advocates.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2020.