SCBA demands impartial inquiry into NAB Lahore incident

Says those who had ordered police to attack PML-N workers should be taken to task

ISLAMABAD:

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President and Pakistan Bar Council (PBA) member Syed Qalbe Hassan on Tuesday condemned the clash that occurred between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers and police outside the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office in Lahore and demanded an impartial inquiry into the incident.

 According to a communique issued by the SCBA, Hassan demanded that those who had ordered the police to attack the PML-N workers and its leader should be taken into custody and brought to justice.

 He noted that the occurrence was the worst example of police violence against the political workers who had been demonstrating in a peaceful manner along with their leader.

 The SCBA president lamented that the incident was nothing but a display of “intolerance and dictatorship” on part of the government.

 On Tuesday, a clash broke out between the PML-N workers and police outside the NAB office in Lahore where party leader Maryam Nawaz had arrived to record her statement in a case related to "illegal" acquisition of land in Raiwind.

 Dozens of party workers were also taken into custody by police from the site.

 As the situation outside the watchdog's building turned violent, Maryam, who was in one of the vehicles part of the caravan and surrounded by supporters, posted a video of her car's broken windshield and alleged that "police had pelted her car with stones [as a result of which] the glass had cracked".