Kachehri project may devour more lawyers' chambers

For the Kachehri Chowk Widening and Remodelling mega project, the administration has placed new demolition markings on additional lawyers' chambers - including the entire Hamza Block - as well as on a dozen further shops and a five-foot section of the bank adjoining the main Executive Block.

This development has triggered strong protests from the legal community, which has declared that, having already surrendered chambers, kiosks, shops, and even the mosque under the earlier plan, they will not concede another inch of Kachehri land.

Lawyers warned that if the authorities, "intoxicated by power", attempt to bring in bulldozers, they will bring the entire project to a halt. They affirmed that there can be no compromise whatsoever on lawyers' chambers or their economic survival.

The Bar further called on the authorities and all stakeholders to honour their commitments and refrain from pushing the Rawalpindi Bar Association into a situation where it is compelled to launch a nationwide lawyers' movement. "Anyone who comes to impose new markings on our land must be ready to bear responsibility for the consequences," they cautioned.

According to the Rawalpindi District Bar Association, it is fully cognisant of the country's prevailing security environment and, recognising this, had cooperated with the administration by allowing the demolition of chambers, the historic mosque, and commercial shops that originally lay within the mutually agreed boundaries of the project.

The Association underscored its respect for all institutions and affirmed its trust that the authorities would honour the commitments made when the initial project design was shared. They stressed that no action should be taken that risks placing institutions in direct confrontation.

During its General Council meeting, the District Bar Association warned all stakeholders that no further steps must be taken without consulting the Bar - any unilateral action could compel lawyers to initiate a protest movement.

These views were expressed at the General Body meeting of the Rawalpindi Bar Association, chaired by District Bar President Sardar Manzar Bashir Khan. The meeting was attended by representatives of the High Court Bar (Rawalpindi Bench), former and sitting members of the Punjab Bar Council, past and present presidents and secretaries of the District Bar, senior members of the legal profession, lady lawyers, and a large number of Bar members.

The participants reaffirmed their full support for the District Bar Rawalpindi and pledged to stand firmly behind every decision of the Association, vowing to leave no stone unturned in safeguarding the rights of lawyers.

Members were also briefed in detail on the situation surrounding the Kachehri Chowk project. Deep concern was expressed that the original, finalised plan - shown to the Executive Body and the affected members of Hamza Block - had already been acted upon: chambers were vacated in accordance with the agreed markings, and demolition of the mosque had commenced. Yet in recent days, attempts had been made to introduce new markings, creating the risk of further losses to chambers in Hamza Block, the Executive Block, and Bar-owned shops. The Bar resolved firmly not to permit this to happen.