Vandalism footage to be shared with accused lawyers

A larger bench of the IHC instructed the Registrar Office to share the vandalism footage with the lawyers accused

ISLAMABAD:

A larger bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday instructed the Registrar Office to share the vandalism footage with the lawyers accused. The defence lawyers adopted the stance that they had requested the Registrar Office to share the footage of the incident, but their request was turned down in the absence of a written court order.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that the court had left the matter to the bar councils to share the names of accused and it did not want to embarrass anyone by playing video clips in the court. The defence counsel requested the court to remove the names of those lawyers who were not part of the incident.

Justice Minallah remarked that the respect of whole legal fraternity was on risk due to the misconduct of a few people. A lawyer told the court that the names of some people, who were not involved in the incident, were also given to the police. The court said that it wanted to increase the respect for the uniform, adding that it would not be appropriate to go into technicalities. The counsel said that they could not ask bars to identify people and instead the court should summon them on its own. Justice Minallah maintained that it was the responsibility of all lawyers to restore respect for the legal fraternity. The court adjourned the case till June 7.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2021.