PML-N workers flout virus SOPs at LHC

Slogans chanted outside courtroom after Shehbaz’s bail order

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers, leaders and their lawyers violated the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued to avoid novel coronavirus, merely to get their attendance noted by former chief minister Mian Shehbaz Shairf during the hearing of his bail application on Wednesday.

The LHC presented a different look where the workers disregarded the SOPs issued by LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan.

The workers also chanted slogans near the doors of the courtroom after a division bench headed by Justice Tariq Abbasi granted pre-arrest bail to Shehbaz in assets beyond means and money laundering cases. As the court reverberated with slogans, Justice Abbasi warned the PMLN camp that the decision could be withdrawn if the court decorum was violated.

Several PML-N leaders, including its provincial president Rana Sanaullah, were also not wearing face masks. Lawyers packed the courtroom despite clear instructions issued by the CJ to maintain social distancing.

Some PML-N workers and supporters tried to enter the main gate but the security personnel restrained them. However, some of them succeeded in entering the court premises from other entrances. Some managed to enter the premises with party leaders, including Ahsan Iqbal, Sanaullah and Mariyum Aurangzeb. Some of the workers continued taking pictures with Shehbaz without bothering for social distancing.

As the crowed started approaching that courtroom where the bail plea was being heard, the security officials closed the main door of that block. Fiery arguments were exchanged between police officials and PMLN workers. After a short while, altercations also started amongst workers who were making efforts to enter the building and those who were already waiting for their turn.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2020.