Lawyers boycott courts to protest against Lahore clashes

Punjab bar extends strike for another day, a few lawyers appear in SC

ISLAMABAD:

On the call for a nationwide strike by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and other lawyers associations, the legal fraternity boycotted court proceedings in several cities of the country, forcing adjournments of the pending cases on Thursday.

According to reports, the lawyers across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa did not appear in courts. A similar trend was witnessed in Lahore, where the lawyers abstained from court proceedings at the Lahore High Court (LHC), sessions court, civil courts, and other subordinate courts.

The call for the nationwide strike was issued in protest against the police crackdown on a lawyers-led rally in Lahore on Wednesday. The rally was brought out in protest against the proposed relocation of civil courts from Aiwan-e-Adl to Model Town.

In response, the police resorted to baton charges, tear gas, and water cannons to quell the unrest, with dozens of lawyers under arrest. After the clashes, the Punjab Bar Council (PBC) and the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) declared a province-wide strike by all lawyers and bar associations on Thursday.

Responding to the call, the lawyers boycotted the court proceedings in several cities, including Peshawar and Lahore as well as Islamabad. However, the five benches hearing cases in the Supreme Court sat as usual and a few lawyers appear in court and sought adjournments because of their strike.

Supreme Court Bar Association President Shahzad Shaukat appeared before a three-member bench, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, for the hearing of a case about the recounting of the votes. He told the bench that lawyers were on strike therefore, the hearing should be adjourned until next week.

However, Chief Justice Isa expressed his anger on the strike and told the lawyer that the case would be heard in due course. The chief justice remarked that lawyers’ job was to assist the court. He warned that the court would start imposing fines.

In Lahore, the strike impacted litigants significantly, as their cases were adjourned due to the unavailability of their counsel. The Punjab Bar Council, in a statement, also extended the strike across Punjab for another day. The council asked lawyers to abstain court the proceedings on Friday (today).

Moreover, a general council meeting of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) also decided to boycott the proceedings at the LHC on May 10 (today), after the hearing of urgent cases, in protest against the police action.
The lawyers staged boycott of courts across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Today we also boycotted the court on the incident that happened in Lahore,” a lawyer said.

Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) Joint Secretary Ijaz Ali Shah strongly condemned the police violence against lawyers in Lahore. He demanded action against those officers who ordered for blocking the peaceful lawyers rally.

“Peaceful protest is the right of every citizen and this right is given by the Constitution of Pakistan,” Advocate Shah told media men. “There will be no compromise on the rule of law in the country, he added.