IBC sets up commission to probe IHC attack

Panel to also probe into whether bar's funds were used to build F-8 chambers

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad Bar Council (IBC) has set up a fact-finding commission to probe into the high court attack and various aspects of the incident. The uni-member commission comprises advocate Rana Abid Nazir and will compile its report in two weeks.

The committee probing into the attack on high court comprising chairman Syed Qamar Sabzwari, Zulfiqar Ali Abbasi and Raja Aleem Khan Abbasi has set up the commission and also issued terms of reference (TORs) for it.

The TORs set for it include disclosure of names of allottees and those who allotted the chambers in the F-8 football ground during 2020-2021. It will also probe into whether the funds of the bar or treasury were used to build the chambers.

It will further provide names of the law practitioners who used inappropriate language against the police at the Margalla police station on January 16 as well as names of those who attacked the district courts on February 8 and made provocative speeches.

Read Justice Minallah seeks 'exemplary punishment' for lawyers involved in IHC rampage

The commission said in its order that the manner in which the lawyers took the law into their hands and stormed the chief justice's block on February 8, holding him hostage, cannot be justified in any way. It added that the act has not only tarnished the prestige of lawyers but also the reputation of the community.

The commission maintained that the lawyers attempted to belittle the authority and sanctity of the bar and the bench, adding that the law practitioners have worked hard for the supremacy of the constitution in the past and every member of the community must uphold the dignity of the profession.

The panel said that some lawyers and bar representatives forced young lawyers to take the law into their hands on February 8. The bar has the responsibility to investigate all incidents that led to the attack on the high court on the day as well as some lawyers and bar representatives.

It further blamed the lawyers who allotted the chambers at the F-8 football ground despite a clear policy of the council and assurance given by the bar to the high court for the untoward incident on February 8.

The order read that IHC forwarded complaint against the lawyers regarding the attack to IBC. Therefore, the council has constituted a fact-finding commission for a complete inquiry into the incident and the preceding events that led to it.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2021.