ISLAMABAD:
An Anti-terrorism Court (ATC) on Thursday remanded four lawyers in judicial custody for a week over storming the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The court also issued notices to the respondents over a bail plea filed by the suspects.
ATC Judge Raja Jawwad Abbas Hassan presided over the case pertaining to the vandalisation at the IHC where lawyers Zafar Ali Waraich, Naveed Malik, Shaikh Shoaib and Nazia Bibi were presented.
The court rejected the plea of the investigation officer (IO) for granting a two-week judicial remand and instead awarded a week-long judicial remand to the suspects.
The suspects’ lawyers maintained that the first information report (FIR) registered against the lawyers was based on lies. They added that the suspects did not commit a crime while all of them were honourable members of the Islamabad Bar Council (IBC).
The lawyers further purported that the cases against their clients were registered on political grounds. They added that nothing was recovered from the suspects’ possession nor do they hold any criminal record, pleading the court to release the lawyers on bail until the conclusion of the case.
The counsels maintained that granting bail to the booked lawyers would not impact the investigation in the case. However, the ATC issued notices to the respondents and adjourned the hearing until Friday (today).
Earlier, in a circular issued by IHC, it was said that a reference would be filed in the Islamabad Bar Council (IBC) for suspension of licences of the suspected lawyers.
It added that the case against the law practitioners was registered while 21 lawyers, including four females, were nominated in the first information report (FIR). However, by Tuesday evening, police had added 11 more suspects to the list.
More notices issued
The IHC issued show-cause notices to three more lawyers allegedly involved in vandalising the high court’s building.
The suspects were identified as Bushra Raja Chisti, Mudassir Rizwan, and Zille Huma.
This brings the total tally to 32 lawyers who have been booked in the case. The IHC had served notices to 17 lawyers on Tuesday followed by 12 on Wednesday.
The show-cause notices, sent by IHC Deputy Registrar Judicial, read that the recipients broke the main gate of the chief justice’s block and attacked the security staff. Owing to this, the judicial proceedings were put on halt for several hours while dispensation of justice to various litigants remained suspended.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 12th, 2021.
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